Talks to resume on university pensions

Crunch talks are set to continue today after university chiefs and union officials failed to reach a resolution in the ongoing bitter row over pensions.

The University and College Union (UCU) and Universities UK held discussions last night in a bid to find a way out of the dispute and will resume today.

CRUNCH TALKS are set to continue today after university chiefs and union officials failed to reach a resolution in the ongoing bitter row over pensions.

The University and College Union (UCU) and Universities UK held discussions last night in a bid to find a way out of the dispute and will resume today.

It comes after university workers took to picket lines for a fourth day of strikes over changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).

Industrial action by UCU members is in its second week, with strikes taking place at 61 universities across the UK over three days, including Leeds, Sheffield, York and Hull.

The dispute centres on proposals put forward by UUK in January which would see the USS move from a “defined benefit” scheme, which gives workers a guaranteed income in their retirement, to become a “defined contribution” scheme, in which pensions are subject to fluctuations in the stock market.

UUK maintains that the pension scheme has a deficit of more than £6bn that cannot be ignored, while UCU argues that the current proposals would leave a typical lecturer almost £10,000 a year worse off in retirement.

Ahead of the talks, UUK warned that failure to secure a deal would cost universities and their staff £1bn a year.

It said it would be “irresponsible” of employers to walk away from the proposals currently on the table without an alternative being agreed.

The proposals put forward by UUK last month were approved by the Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC), which is the formal legal forum for deciding changes.

Without this decision, the USS would have had to resort to the default position of increasing employer and worker contributions to meet the £1bn annual increase in the cost of pensions, UUK said.

It argued that most universities already pay 18 per cent of salaries in pension contributions and cannot afford to pay more without diverting money from other areas, such as teaching and research.

The proposals were approved following 35 meetings between employers and union officials, UUK added.

A UUK spokesman said: “Having failed to put forward a credible suggestion in the past year, we look forward to a union leaders’ proposal that provides good pensions, is affordable and secures the future of USS.”

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: “We hope that UUK will stop playing games and we can finally get down to business.”