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?

The pension scheme is not on the Balance Sheet's of the Universities.

They're a liability. If the scheme goes under the universities have to bail it out under a last man standing arrangement, which is why Oxford and Cambridge are worried as they're likely to be the last ones standin!

Oxford and Cambridge are not worried. They will not be the last ones standing. It will never be the case that many unis will close. But, there is the risk that some might after the last he bill which allows it, and gives the OfS no role in preventing it (which HEFCE did have). They just want to be able to borrow money more cheaply.

Interesting.
I've just looked at the Balance sheet and notes of my local University and it does include a provision for their proportion of the deficit as at the last actuarial valuation.
But the asset wealth of Universities provides a better buffer than much of the normal public sector.

The scheme is most definitely in deficit.
That cannot be ignored any more. Restricting future pension entitlements is tough but it has to be done.

If the VCs would wake up and smell the coffee it could be resolved.

Bullshit

Have you read Oxford and Cambridge's submissions to USS about the change from DB to DC?

And, because you clearly can't read let me repeat. The scheme had been restricted twice. Most recently last year. How much had the valuation changed since then that the whole DB scheme has to go?

Can I suggest that the OP's daughter write to her uni's Vice Chancellor and explain how the strike is affecting her? It's an excellent way to support her lecturers and professional services staff and get the strike called off. And it can be called off, I want it called off, but only if Universities UK go back to the negotiating table. There's already a few vice-chancellors, who make up UUK, who are in favour of not making these stupid changes.

None of us want to be striking. We are losing half a month's pay to do this because it's important. Not just because we're standing to lose an average of £10,000 a year in retirement, which will mean that our pensions won't be possible to live off. But because who will be expected to pick up the slack when we can't live in old age?

The daughter's generation. Who won't have pension rights of their own if we don't work to protect them now.

It hurts me to be doing this, emotionally and financially. But it is the right thing to do.

The dispute isn't about the deficit. The deficit is pretty small by DB standards and manageable. The dispute is about the cost of future benefits, which has increased due to falling gilt yields.

It would have been possible to reduce benefits again so that the contribution rate remained at 18%. I think all parties could have accepted that compromise. The move to entirely DC benefits is a drastic and unnecessary one.

Whether striking is the right thing to do or not is largely irrelevant to the OP's daughter, who has to face what are very real anxieties to her in any case. Suggesting she write to her VC etc is just trying to get her to support the strikes and she has the right to make her own mind up about that.
OP, can she walk in with a friend or find a back entrance. I was an undergrad at a very politicised university in the strikes of 2005-6. I was quite vocally anti strike at the time and I was not harassed in any way when walking past protestors. I am now a post grad and will again doubtless be walking past protestors but am not anticipating any difficulty even though I am keeping my opinions to myself this time around!

I still think the op is disingenuous. Pretending DD is scared to 'cross a picket line' when actually op just disagrees with the strike and feels that tuition fees are being wasted. Fair enough DD might not know much about strikes but seems more likely that op has stoked this fear. Surely Op is old enough to have seen people striking and can reassure DD that it will be fine.
Walking past groups of drunk students is probably a lot more scary!

You should be far more concerned about erosion of pensions and grateful that people are striking.

OK, I am much less militant about strikes than I was at 20 but it still grates on me that I am expected to be grateful for them. I and others can agree the pension proposals are unfair without thinking striking in such a way as to impact students is the right way to go about it.

Disingenous posters?! Why I never...

where is Claig nowadays? I guess their Russian bot masters put them onto something more urgent.

I and others can agree the pension proposals are unfair without thinking striking in such a way as to impact students is the right way to go about it.

Out of interest, purpleangel17, what would you do instead of striking or taking other action that would have an impact on students?

"I don't agree with pension changes but if we just talk they will change their minds"

NO they won't. No they really, really won't. Look how much good talking did in the private sector. Either fight or give up. Or you can stand to one side wringing your hands and let other people fight for you.

Is there any evidence striking in recent years has achieved what it set out to do and justified the disruption to innocent bystanders?

Most strikes I can recall did not result in a stand down.

I suspect not much will work - all pensions are being cut, that is just how the world is changing. You might be able to delay it at best.

I would support action short of a strike and working to rule. And people always have the option to change institution or career. But strikes, in my view, cause far more disruption to the innocent than inconvenience to the decision makers and are both unfair and an ineffective tool.

Is their any evidence?

The public sector with its strong union base still has decent pensions, the private sector doesn't.

You might be happy to roll over and take your kicking and stare helplessly in the face of injustice but others are still prepared to fight. And it's a good job others didn't have your " there is nothing we can do" attitude or YOU wouldn't have sick pay, holiday pay or any pension at all!

The public sector pensions have still taken a beating. They have always been better than private as a balance for lower salaries. Can you name a specific strike in last 20 years where the strike stopped the changes?

My husband is a lecturer and he will be on strike. No picket line and he met with his class reps last week to explain the situation. He and the rest of the staff fully support any student going to class who do actually have classes. At the end of the day they want their students to pass and gt good results. The strike is to do with pensions. Also most universities have multiple entrances/buildings so it would be rather difficult to have a line at each one!

I don't call deliberately causing disruption to the innocent fighting. I call it a toddler tantrum.

Oh and believe me personally as a family we really would rather avoid strike. We have a large mortgage, council tax and nursery fees to pay as well as all our other bills but we have to think about when we eventually retire (and the age keeps getting changed) it isn't ideal for anyone involved, students or staff!

Toddler have tantrums for irrational reasons. I hardly think this is the same.

Toddler tantrum - that's a coherent argument......

It seems the toddlers are putting forward well though out arguments that are logical and reasoned. I assume in your analogy your the adult however, you fail to put forward anything that even resembles an argument.

Toddlers indeed hmmmmm.

If your dd is anxious then is there a friend she can walk in with? I was worried the first time I did this as a student but at most I encountered two members of staff who asked if I wanted a leaflet and were pretty cheery.

It’s likely to be slightly larger this time from what I’ve heard. My lecturer DH has recently joined the union and it sounds like their membership has increased recently. At his uni there will be a picket line (but only until 11:00). For the first few weeks there will be high attendance and then they will rota it. However, this will be a group of boffins/nerds with flyers not a Billy Elliot style protest. DH (and a number of his colleagues) feel awful that it will disrupt lectures and impact students but unfortunately this does have the most impact. Any lecture material not covered will not be in his final exam and he will adjust the remaining lectures to cover important points. Incidentally he will be working on one of the strike days due to prior commitments. The union are aware of this and of others doing it but they will be donating their pay for those days to a charity or hardship fund. The pensions changes will make a huge impact (his will be cut in half) and appear (to my economist DH) to be based on assumptions that have never historically been true and are unlikely to be true in the future.

The only argument I am hearing is that those striking want to minimise the hit to their pensions and in so doing, plan to purposefully disrupt a student population who more than likely will have to work until a significantly greater pension age and almost certainly get a much smaller pension. Doesn't sound fair or well-argued to me.

purpleangel17 have you been reading a different thread?

A number of posters have discussed the pension scheme in great detail.

Defending pensions now will inevitably help the younger generation. Giving up and giving away pension benefits would definitely disadvantage these students. Short termism, the need for immediate gratification - " I want my lecture now cos I paid for it" is the definition of toddler behaviour. Considering the long term implications of decisions is what adults do, they suffer now ( loss of wages) to benefit everyone in the future.