To think that the striking lecturers are hurting the wrong people?

[StrikeStrikeStrike]

So this morning I turned up to an important Lab, a Lab which is integral to an assessment. After a 30 minute wait it was confirmed the Lecturer was on strike and we were asked to leave.

While I understand the reasons for the strike, I can't help but feel angry. I understand they want to cause maximum disruption but a heads up would've been nice (fellow students on other courses have been given advance notice).

I am expected to go into University tomorrow for the second part of this Lab which forms part of our assessment. I'm expected to go in even though the chances of this Lecturer being on strike again are high. However, the department will not confirm the Lab as cancelled until 15 minutes after the start time.

Some of my fellow course members are choosing to stay home as they don't want the hassle of walking through the snow to a (probably non-existent) 9am Lab. Others are planning to attend anyway on principle.

I am unsure. I'm not sure I want to take the risk of not turning up if the Lab goes ahead. It is part of our assessment.

But, for me attending a 9am Lab means getting up at 6:30, getting the kids ready for school, all of us leaving the house by 7:15, catching a train (which cost £10), and finally a 30 minute walk. And tomorrow I could potentially be doing all that in the snow. Would you go?

AIBU to ask for a partial refund of my fees? The University are withholding the pay of staff who strike. Why should they (the University) profit?

Isn't it part of USS argument that paying out less for those retiring now is an important step in ensuring there is some left for future generations?

No, not really. USS wants to completely de-risk the scheme by turning it into a defined contribution scheme. That is not good news for the future generations of academics, researchers and professional services staff; in short it's bad for all those choosing to work in academia.

I don't believe that it needs to be done and am fighting for my colleagues—current and future—to have access to a defined benefit scheme. If we make it less favourable to work in academia then we won't attract the best talent. And then what's gonna happen to the standard of university education?

People in the private sector who are similarly qualified (think 7-8 years of training and years of precarious contracts) earn much, much more than academic salaries. Our compensation was the pension, which they are now trying to rob us of.

Exactly.

It's also worth noting that the employers want to slash their contributions to individual pension pots by 5%. So effectively a 5% pay cut. On top of 10 years of pay restraint.

I think Lecturers get paid incredibly poorly, especially when you see how much the VC gets. I understand why they are angry. I'm not really angry with them, I am very angry with the University.

Another wasted day today.

Sorry -the years of precarious contracts should have been a separate point. Most academics take 3-5 years at best to secure a permanent post, and frequently are precariously employed on v poor terms in that period. A permanent job by your mid-30s is doing very well. We don’t have years and years to build up our pension nor the salaries to start our own private savings pot.

Full time, permanent academic staff are not badly paid by most people's standards.

I get that the starting out period for academics is very tough. And it's a unique sector, so difficult to make direct comparisons.

However, there are increasing sectors were periods of minimal (or no) remuneration is needed to get a foot on the ladder.

So while I get your point, it's important not to overplay it. People's working conditions and their rewards do change over time.

Those of you on strike, how can you afford to lose your pay? Students in the support of the strike are planning a fundraiser I'm told. They are also planning on taking cake to the picket lines.

To be honest,OP, we can’t. My DH is also an academic and on strike, so our household income is being halved. Mortgage and childcare bills still have to be paid. But I can afford an impoverished retirement even less.

AIBU to ask for a partial refund of my fees? The University are withholding the pay of staff who strike. Why should they (the University) profit?

Yes, absolutely do this.

The people on strike probably can't afford to strike, but they are doing it for the greater good (including yours if you become a lecturer at some point in future).

I can't afford it . Like most others I hope the strike will be resolved soon, but at the same time it is such a huge issue I am very motivated to hold firm. The union is offering strike pay to those in hardship, although not sure how it will be distributed and when. But anyone can donate to the fund if they wish. My local union has also started taking food Bank donations.

Sole earner in my family with two DDS, so losing pat is a big deal. But relatively small in comparison with long term cost of proposed daylight robbery changes

I thought the last USS scheme change had a novel and constructive approach, as it spread the risk of pension provision across employees and employers.

UUK, however, are mendacious twats, who have opportunistically used the worst possible deficit forecast to realise a longheld ambition to completely de-risk employers, whilst using the most favourable forecast to try and persuade employees they'll hardly be worse off at all.

I can't afford to lose my pay. I will be using a credit card for the food shopping next month.
I'm not full time salaried staff, not many of us are any more. I work for three different universities. Only one of them pays into my pension.

The varying attitudes of University staff and students are weird. I have not been striking this week (postdoc, not in union). Some of the classes I teach have been very poorly attended or cancelled altogether because the students are striking in support or refusing to cross the picket lines! Bizarre, while others are demanding a refund of their fees.

I also think lecturers and other university staff standing up for themselves against lying shysters/mendacious twats of employers is (dare I say it) a teaching moment in and of itself.

I don't think that's bizarre, I'm pleased to hear it.

I also think lecturers and other university staff standing up for themselves against lying shysters/mendacious twats of employers is (dare I say it) a teaching moment in and of itself.

Very true, Soupy

Why do you find the varying attitudes 'weird' and 'bizarre'?

I think you can support the strike whilst still demanding a refund of fees. I think we should be refunded - we are not getting what we have paid for, and our future earning potential could be affected.

Students are being asked not to cross the picket, some will some won't. Those that stay home aren't necessarily in support (they could just not want to go anyway) and those of us that are crossing the line perhaps have more intensive courses (or need to get into the library).

We have 20+ contact hours a week so obviously we are more affected than those on courses with 2 contact hours.

Weird is the wrong word, sorry. I couldn't think how to get it across, it's just interesting that on the one hand you have students like the OP who go to their classes only to find they're cancelled, and on the other hand you have teaching staff cancelling classes because of low attendance! As with many things about this strike, the traditional capitalist employment model just doesn't apply very well to academia, I think.

This is about private sector pensions - the USS is the largest private sector scheme in the UK.

As others have explained, there is a dispute about the deficit. This is the case for the deficit in every DB scheme - there is an infinite number of assumptions that the actuaries could choose for the valuation. In this case, the estimations of the funding position range from a small deficit to a small surplus - £6bn sounds like a lot of money, but in a scheme this size it's pretty manageable as it can be funded over the long term.

This dispute is mainly about the cost of benefits building up in the future. At present, the universities are paying 18% towards new benefits, expenses and the deficit. This isn't actually that high compared to many DB schemes in the UK, especially since it includes the deficit payments.

The updated calculation of that contribution rate was 25% (iirc). The universities aren't willing to increase their contributions by that magnitude. I think that's fair enough, tbh. What I strongly disagree with is the decision taken to move entirely to DC. For the same money going in, this will result in significantly lower pensions for academics.

A compromise could have easily been found whereby the benefits were reduced, but the DB (career average, not final salary) structure was maintained. It enrages me that this wasn't the approach taken.

uss-pension-model.com/ shows the scale of the proposed drop neatly yet horrifyingly, 37% drop in my annual retirement income...

I think demanding a partial refund of fees is a way of supporting the strikes. If the universities feel limited repercussions from the strikes, ie students don't use their position as consumers (as they now are) to complain, why would the universities care? The universities need to know you value your lectures and are not willing to pay full price for a reduced service. That will be added encourage for them to work to a speedier resolution, surely.

This is nothing to do with University Management. The pension provider is separate and its a National decision. Striking will make no difference to the outcome it just raises awareness. Universities will not profit from this action

This is nothing to do with University Management. The pension provider is separate and its a National decision.

Who do you think UUK are?

Striking has already made a difference. The original decision has been set to one side and there are talks with ACAS beginning on 5 March. This was nowhere on the horizon before the strikes began. Our action is working!

But the money is not available so what's the alternative? Staff cuts? Then you'll have no job & no pension. Or some will...