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Feb 19 • 6 tweets • 8 min read
Here's the @FT's @bethanstaton reporting a snap summary by @USSemployers of their constultation, saying responses indicate a "clear rejection of the @UCU proposals". It appears @UniversitiesUK's popaganda campaign to kill an attempt at a resolution succeeded. Great job! #USSmess
@FT @bethanstaton @USSEmployers @ucu @UniversitiesUK The #USS dispute is now well and truly on fire, as eyes turn towards the formal JNC meeting(s) next week. Higher Education disputes also ramp up, with more universities brought into the action over the fundmantal Four Fights dispute.
As for the behaviour of @AlistairJarvis's @UniversitiesUK, and their marshalling of opinion against the @UCU proposals, have they made employers aware of the precariousness of their position at the JNC? Smooth passage for the cuts should not be taken for granted. #USSmess
@AlistairJarvis @UniversitiesUK @ucu With no resolution looking possible before a JNC vote, the decision will almost certainly fall to the JNC chair. This casting vote has been no friend to @UCU in the past, but the manipulative, hard-line approach taken by UUK is unlikely to be looked on favourably.
@AlistairJarvis @UniversitiesUK @ucu And don't forget that @UCU has raised some pretty serious process concerns. I consider @USSpensions to have acted in breach of the rules in how they conducted their 'Rule 76' application, leading to a loophole which @UniversitiesUK exploited last summer.
So, the news from yesterday, while disappointing, is for the most part unexpected, and the fight very much remains on! #OneOfUsAllOfUs #USSmess #USSstrike #NotTodayUUK

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More from @Sam_Marsh101

Sam Marsh Profile picture
Feb 20
Suppose you run a pension scheme, and conducted a valuation in the middle of a pandemic which showed the need for savage cuts. How do you hide the fact that since then the scheme has strengthened dramatically? Here's how. #USSmess #USSstrike 1/ (Graph courtesy of @USSpensions) Image
1. Stop publishing data
@USSpensions were publishing monthly data, but stopped with their Aug 21 figures. Why? They say they were working on a new system.
We forced them to publish updates this week they planned on keeping to themselves until June. 2/ uss.co.uk/about-us/valua… Image
2. Explain away improvements with broad-brush arguments
"Assets have increased, but so have liabilities".
"Deficits are down, but future service costs are up".
"Higher asset prices mean lower expected returns".
Enough! Just show us the numbers! 3/ (Below @Barker4Kate in THE) Image
Read 10 tweets
Sam Marsh Profile picture
Feb 16
Quick reminder of how @UniversitiesUK have tried to scupper our proposals:
- 26 Jan: "The union's proposal does not appear to be a serious attempt to reach agreement"
- 28 Jan: "We are awaiting confirmation from #USS that @UCU’s proposal is viable, implementable, & fully costed"
28 Jan (cont): "If we receive confirmation, we will formally consult employers on [UCU's proposals]"
2 Feb: "UUK is consulting employers for views on potentially modifying the proposal for concluding the 2020 #USS valuation" (but not UCU's proposals)
10 Feb: "Now we have received a costed proposal from UCU, we have formally asked employers whether they would wish to support it"
10 Feb: @MikeOtsuka writes to UUK about "serious misrepresentations of UCU’s proposals" in the launch of the consultation. mikeotsuka.medium.com/uuks-serious-m…
Read 8 tweets
Sam Marsh Profile picture
Feb 16
We're hearing more reports of universities keen to engage with their @UCU branches on the substance of our proposals, and some responding positively despite @UniversitiesUK's best attempts to undermine our attempts at a resolution. 1/
Branches who need assistance in their discussion with management should feel free to contact the negotiation team. 2/
Unfortunately, @SheffieldUni management, who have previously boasted about our highly constructive #USS Working Group, are not engaging, symptomatic of the increasingly insular approach to decision-making by UEB most evident in the efforts to close @UniShefArch. 3/
Read 4 tweets
Sam Marsh Profile picture
Nov 16, 2021
A long overdue thread on the @USSpensions consultation, and what you might consider saying.

Firstly, here's consultation link. You will need your USS member number, which you can find on the top of emails from them, plus identifying information. 1/
ussconsultation2021.co.uk/members
Once you're logged in, you can play with the modeller and confirm that @UniversitiesUK are shameless about misrepresenting the scale of the cuts. (I am projected to lose ~36% of my future guaranteed pension, which falls to ~28% including DC converted to an annuity.) 2/
Once you've figured out the impacts, then you can go to the questions. I will not tell you what to say, as the questions are fairly clear and I would expect the responses fairly obvious. But here are some things you might like to consider saying at various points. 3/
Read 12 tweets
Sam Marsh Profile picture
Sep 25, 2021
❓ Have @USSpensions correctly followed the scheme rules in dealing with the 2020 valuation?

I'm not convinced they have, and see what they've done as having significantly biased the JNC process against @UCU and in favour of @UniversitiesUK.

Read on... 1/
I'm focussing on the 'Rule 76' process, which sets out how the JNC (made up of UCU & UUK reps, plus an independent chair) deals with the outcome of a valuation in which costs have increased. The process starts with the #USS laying out the increase. Or it should. 2/
Let's look at the 'Cost Sharing' rule, 64.10, referenced as part of the Rule 76 process. It sets out the rights of the JNC to determine a change in benefits or contribution rate splits between members and employers, with a 'cost-sharing' backstop for if the JNC does not agree. 3/
Read 11 tweets
Sam Marsh Profile picture
Sep 3, 2021
Let's talk about the non-existent 2021 valuation, that could have been invoked by @USSpensions as a solution to the crisis that the scheme and pre-92 HE sector is heading towards. (This is an overdue thread.) 1/
It is widely appreciated by the scheme's members that the 2020 valuation date of 31 March 2020 is right in the middle of a COVID-related dip in the markets (first-wave, locked-down, market chaos), and is one important factor in the huge £14-15bn deficit. 2/
At the valuation date, the scheme's assets had plummeted from around £73bn at the end of December 2019 to £66.5bn. By 31 March 2021 the assets had recovered to £80.6bn, and market conditions were widley seen as more 'normal'. (Most recent figure? £88bn) 3/
Read 18 tweets

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