Dd scared of crossing a university picket line

[littlemissrain]

Dd's university is taking part in the strike next week.

Most of her teachers (mostly postgraduate students) will be striking, but none of her lecturers are. 2 of her lectures aren't recorded, so she has to go to them. This will
mean crossing the picket line, and she's terrified that the strikers will call her out/jeer at her as she goes in. She has anxiety problems so is really building this up in her mind. The strikes are, as things stand, going to last for up to a month, possibly longer.

Does anyone have any experience of having to cross picket lines?

Titchy of course, how the university divides up your £60 per hour is up to them. I pay my cleaner £15 per hour, that includes cleaning products, her petrol/travel costs, pension, tax,NI. The cost to me is £15 regardless of how much she spends on products, pension etc. The same with a mechanic - Labour is £50 per hour but that includes all the costs of running a garage, training, etc. Am sure the OP realise her £60 per hour goes to support all the functions of a university.

Your daughter is a student not am employee of university. So, there is no issue for her.

Yes wesail I understand that as I am sure the OP does. I charge by the hour. That hourly rate includes all my costs. My clients only see one hourly rate. I'm clearly not doing a very good job of e planning myself!

"The rather militant Labour/Marxist societies that are jointing and getting very excited about the strike."

Are those student societies?

I went to the March for Science in London, 2017. "I've never been on such a civilised and polite march!" exclaimed someone. I'd expect no less from scientists, tbh. What else would you expect from boffins & philosophers?

twofalls I think "the cost to me is the same" conflates two issues. 1) The cost to the user. And 2) the confusion lots of people seem to have about what a university education is, and what it costs to produce it.

Because if a student loses one lecture due to strike, the cost of the lost lecture is not 9k divided by whatever hours = £60 because not everything associated with that degree programme will be cancelled - many other lectures will still run, library will still be open, student support services still open, etc.

@Battleax Do people with anxiety not want pensions?

How anxious will she be when she can't afford to be old or ill?

Don't patronise her, she is a clever girl who can understand the issues.

TalkinPeace first, USS is not a public sector pension. (pre-92) Universities are independent institutions and USS is a private scheme. Nothing to do with the government. Nothing to do with taxpayers. Second, it is affordable. There is no deficit, unless you assume that all unis to out of business simultaneously and USS derisks into government bonds. Third, contributions will exceed benefits for at least 40 years, so if it takes 20 years to pay off the (imaginary) deficit who cares?

There are loads of non academic staff working in the university

Yes and many of them - such as myself - will be in the union and will be striking. The proposed pension scheme changes do not discriminate between academic and non -academic staff members. They will affect all members of staff.

ThereIsNoSuchThingAsRoadTax
USS is not a public sector pension ....Nothing to do with taxpayers
Except that Tuition fees are provided out of Government Income and THEY are what funds Universities.

There is no deficit
There is according to the Accounts. Future liabilities are 17% higher than future assets.

TalkinPeace
USS is not a public sector pension ....Nothing to do with taxpayers
Except that Tuition fees are provided out of Government Income and THEY are what funds Universities.

It isn't quite that simple, though. The government backs loans to individuals who pay the uni. The pension scheme is private and is not backed by the government. There is no public liability.

There is no deficit
There is according to the Accounts. Future liabilities are 17% higher than future assets.

That depends on which accounts you look at. There are many ways of evaluating pension schemes. The most negative estimates a £7.5bn deficit. The most positive, a £8bn surplus.

The scheme has been revised since that report last year. As I've said several time it is no longer final salary, or completely DB.

The fee loans will be sold to a private investor at some point - the tax payer fee subsidy is at most 25% of a university's income.

Do you regard the pensions those employed by the private universities as public sector schemes too?

titchy
Do you have a link to the new Actuarial valuation ?
Just that here www.uss.co.uk/how-uss-is-run/valuation it says that the next valuation will not be till 2020

Moving to career average was done by the LGPS in 2014
Do you have a link for the bits that are no longer DB ?

ThereIsNoSuchThingAsRoadTax
OK, its a "private" scheme.
But the trustees have been negligent in kicking the can down the road for this long.
If the funding deficit is not closed, the students of today are going to get even more shafted to pay pensions they will never see

Tuition fees from UK students are not the only source of income for universities. The pension scheme is not underwritten by the government as public service pension schemes (e.g. the civil service pension scheme) are.

It its current form it is not a DB scheme if you earn above £55k.

TalkinPeace
OK, its a "private" scheme.
But the trustees have been negligent in kicking the can down the road for this long.
If the funding deficit is not closed, the students of today are going to get even more shafted to pay pensions they will never see

It isn't a "private" scheme. It is a private scheme.
There is no deficit.
The students of today have no liability for the USS scheme.

As a union rep I have led picket lines on strike days. I always make sure they are good natured and that nobody who chooses to cross the line gets insulted or intimidated - we might engage to explain why we are on strike, and if appropriate ask if they wish to join the union and join us, but I would never tolerate people being made to feel uncomfortable particularly if they are not eligible to strike (non members, members of a different union, contractors, visitors). I have even had my DS as part of my picket line, it's been so friendly (usually when we have been on strike his school has been closed for similar reasons).

I would be very surprised if students were jeered at or shouted at by striking lecturers.

Marywortley
It its current form it is not a DB scheme if you earn above £55k.
According to this
^www.uss.co.uk/members/members-home/the-uss-scheme/uss-retirement-income-builder^
It is DB on all earnings up to £55k and DC above that.
So the vast, vast bulk of the scheme is DB

Moving to career average was done by the LGPS in 2014

How's that relevant? USS moved to career average and made it DC on salaries over £55k last year. Employer conts were also cut.

That £55k dc isn't index linked. So while currently the vast majority might be dB, that'll change.

TalkinPeace
It its current form it is not a DB scheme if you earn above £55k.
According to this
www.uss.co.uk/members/members-home/the-uss-scheme/uss-retirement-income-builder
It is DB on all earnings up to £55k and DC above that.
So the vast, vast bulk of the scheme is DB

And? DB does not mean unaffordable.
The final salary scheme was closed and the DB scheme limited to make USS affordable. That was a year ago. Nothing had changed since then. The proposed changes have nothing to do with affordability. They are motivated by unis wanting to divert money from staff into estates and moving pensions off the balance sheet so they can borrow more cheaply.

Employer conts were also cut
Link please

According to this, the ERS contributions went up from 16% to 18%
www.uss.co.uk/how-uss-is-run/running-uss/funding-uss/schedule-of-contributions

They are motivated by unis wanting to divert money from staff into estates and moving pensions off the balance sheet so they can borrow more cheaply.
The pension scheme is not on the Balance Sheet's of the Universities.
And the Scheme trustees are not involved with the capital schemes at the Universities.

And the scheme is most definitely in deficit.

Employer and employee conts went up. Employer conts were back to where they were in the 90s when they cut them because the scheme was in surplus by all estimates and they were short sighed.

*The pension scheme is not on the Balance Sheet's of the Universities.
And the Scheme trustees are not involved with the capital schemes at the Universities.

And the scheme is most definitely in deficit.*

The risks of the scheme are most definitely in the balance sheet.
The scheme in not in deficit.