Thread by @MikeOtsuka

@DrJoGrady @etymologic On whether Sam's suggested approach really warrants 3 stars in industrial relations negotiating 101, I'd be interested in the thoughts of @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 & JNC negotiator @Sam_Marsh101 1/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 Background: what's in question is whether @ucu should fully embrace all the proposals & suggestions in the JEP report, including status quo 1/75 DB funded by 65%-35% cost-shared +2.1% employer, +1.1% member contributions. 2/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu Or, as @carlomorelliUCU, who is a JNC negotiator has argued, and Sam Dolan endorses above, should @ucu demand that employers pay the full 3.2%. 3/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU W excuses for mixed metaphors, I've argued in this blog that it would be an own goal for @ucu not to embrace all details of the JEP report, given how much more favourable they are to union than employer. That would just licence employer cherry picking. 4/
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@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU I say more in this brief blog. Here's a summary of that blog: 5/
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@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU No Detriment position = everyone should fully & constructively engage w/ JEP proposals except for @UCU. UUK should cooperate w/ us even if we don’t cooperate w/ them. Problem: UUK can escape DB contribution increases in that case. 6/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU Below I point to a specific further difficulty w Sam Dolan's defence of the No Detriment strategy which is supposed to warrant three stars in industrial relations negotiating 101. 7/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU "It is not the role of the JEP to adopt the role of negotiator in relation to the Scheme’s benefit structure."

In quoting this passage from JEP report, Sam draws attention to an aspect of the report to which your negotiating strategy makes the union vulnerable: 8/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU JEP report also says this: "The changes suggested by the Panel are based on the current benefit arrangements. No new DB changes have been proposed and it was not within the JEP’s ToR to suggest such changes – this is the remit of the JNC." 9/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU UUK has already signalled that they are interested in pursuing benefit cuts, Their response to JEP: "Potential responses include employers taking on greater levels of risk, stakeholders paying higher contributions, the trustee updating the valuation assumptions..." 10/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU "...and stakeholders agreeing some moderate adjustment to benefits. Any solution is likely to require a combination of these..." 11/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU Therefore by appealing to a JEP statement about benefit structure in an attempt to justify a negotiating principle regarding contribution levels, not only do you make the mistake of conflating benefit structure and contribution level, but... 12/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU ...you also provide cover for employers to try to push through their desired solution involving cuts to benefits: e.g., to try to push for a reduction of accrual to 1/80th, in order to keep contributions to March ACAS level. 13/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU The words you quote -- ""It is not the role of the JEP to adopt the role of negotiator in relation to the Scheme’s benefit structure" -- do not provide justification for your position (since contributions are distinct from benefit structure). 14/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU But they do provide grounds for employers to try to push for benefit cuts. This is why it makes such good sense for the union to adhere as closely to the text of the JEP proposals as possible, given how favourable these proposals are to them. 15/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU Unwise to parse words about what really is & isn't a JEP 'proposal', to try to justify the cherry picking of an abandonment of 65%-35% cost-sharing. That will just license employers to try to weasel out of 1/75 DB by claiming that this is not a JEP proposal either. 16/

@DrJoGrady @etymologic @guglielmomeardi @JeanFind @PatMcGovern16 @Sam_Marsh101 @ucu @carlomorelliUCU I hope the above makes clear how important it is for UCU to embrace the JEP report wholeheartedly and in full, in all of its details, including the proposed 2.1% employer, 1.1% member cost-sharing preservation of 1/75 DB. 17/17