Monday 9th August 5:00pm
Speakers include UCU Left members on the UCU SWG: Marion Hersh, Deepa Driver and Sunil Banga
USS is in crisis and our pensions are under threat, but it’s the artificial valuation not the funding of the scheme that is the problem. This crisis is however now also evident in the majority of the UCU leadership who are abandoning UCU policy to defend members’ pensions and are committed to working within the framework of the 2020 valuation.
UCU’s refusal to implement the decisions of the sector Conference in May and now their counter-proposals to UUK and USS within the 2020 valuation risks massive cuts to members’ benefits, undermining any legal action and most importantly undermining attempts to win members to industrial action. The failure of leadership is also leading to individual branches, such as Oxford and Cambridge, to seek worse outcomes for members by selling illusions in alternative Conditional Indexation schemes. These schemes failed in the past when used for endowment mortgages and their failure lies with the corrupt management of financial institutions managing member’s contributions.
There will be no solution to the USS crisis without changes to the management of the scheme. It isn’t funding that is the problem, nor is it benefits available it is the failed management of the scheme and their concoction of a nonsensical valuation.
The Special Higher Education Sector Conference on 9th September will be the focus for halting this retreat on pensions. UCU Left is organising this emergency meeting to stop this crisis and prepare for the 9th September conference.