Union hits out at university plans to change pensions

FUTURE members of staff employed at the University of South Wales (USW) will receive “inferior” pensions, a union is warning.

Public service union Unison said changes to the university’s employment structure will affect incoming support staff, including workers in IT, examinations, academic registry, libraries, estates, accommodation and student support from August.

It is claimed that academic staff at the university, which has campuses in Cardiff, Treforest, Newport, and Glyntaff, will not be affected.

Unison claims future staff members will be effectively “second-class employees”, which has made current staff members feel “angry”. They said they have promised to resist the changes.

Dan Beard, Unison USW branch secretary, said: “This is an extremely unhelpful move by the university, undermining the pensions of the lowest-paid. By establishing an arms-length company, the university dodges its legal obligation to offer support staff access to the Local Government Pension Scheme.”

A spokesman from the University of South Wales said: “Universities have good pay rates, good terms and conditions, and good holidays for their staff. We’re responsible for making sure that staff also have access to a good workplace pension, and these changes continue to offer that.

“With people living longer, there is increasing pressure on public sector pension schemes across the UK, and along with other universities we’re making extra payments totalling millions of pounds to shore up the Local Government Pension Scheme.

“In making this change to the pension we offer future support staff, we’re choosing a sensible and practical way to balance our responsibility to provide a good workplace pension with the need to avoid potentially crippling pension liabilities for the university in future generations.”