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Sam Marsh Profile picture
Sam Marsh
@Sam_Marsh101
You might know me from UCU/maths/pensions/Sheffield/elsewhere. Trustee director of the USS pensions scheme and ex-UCU national negotiator.
Dec 12, 2023 • 16 tweets • 5 min read
Yesterday's Vice-Chancellor's update at @SheffieldUni contained a passage on the role of Senate in the 'new schools' restructure. In it, he claimed "Senate does not make decisions regarding our structure". This is not quite true. (And spot the difference left and right!) 1/
Image
Image Senate is the "academic authority" of @SheffieldUni according to the University's own description, which the VC's copied-and-pasted text omitted. Council turns to Senate for advice on decisions related to academic matters. And there's established process for that advice. 2/ Image
Sep 12, 2023 • 13 tweets • 3 min read
I've spent some of the past few days reflecting on the hardline position that @SheffieldUni management took at our negotiation meeting last week aimed at attempting to avert 10 days of local strike action. If you missed the news, they came empty-handed. Why? 1/ The signs leading up to the negotiations had been positive. The University had published an all-staff update that spelled out the grounds for a resolution. Interactions in the lead up to the meeting had been more constructive than earlier in the summer. 2/
Jul 25, 2023 • 10 tweets • 1 min read
Attention @SheffieldUCU members! Want to check your MAB deductions have been applied correctly? Here's my guide, which I think is the way to go: 1/ Step 1: Look at your July payslip, and multiply the 'Salary' entry by 12 to get your annual salary.
(Alternatively, look on MyJob at your 'My Staff Record' to find your current Annual Salary.) 2/
May 18, 2023 • 4 tweets • 4 min read
Wow! Monitoring figures for 31 March 2023 drop from @USSpensions, and show a *£7.6bn SURPLUS* and pre-cut benefits costing *just 21.8% of salary*! Expect these figures to change in the full valuation, but we're bang on track for a historic win. #ucuRISING ddlnk.net/2PRX-1DZUI-BF5… We have, today, published t... @USSpensions I think @RedActuary and Derek Benstead of @FirstActuarial deserve a huge amount of credit for pointing out that time would be strongly in our favour in this story, proved absolutely right.
Feb 23, 2023 • 5 tweets • 2 min read
No announcement from @USSPensions, but the Joint Negotiating Committee has a new independent chair, Akbar Khan, replacing previous interim chair, Judith Fish. That's three key posts (chair of trustee board, CEO, JNC chair) with different holders going into the 2023 valuation. 1/ Of course, @Barker4Kate joined as chair of the board partway through the 2020 valuation (though it was Eastwood's hawkish board that set the tone for it) and Galvin hasn't yet exited, but last I heard he was due to leave by the end of March. 2/
Feb 22, 2023 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
A year ago today, I was party to what I hope is the biggest stitch-up I'll ever see close up: the pushing through by the JNC of a savage cut in future accrual in @USSpensions based on an self-evidently unsound valuation rooted in pandemic-induced market turmoil. 1/ It was awful. Nothing was fair or right about the decision taken that day. The scheme's rules had been bent, probably breached, by @USSPensions to skew things in favour of @UniversitiesUK, who themselves lied to their members about @UCU's counter-proposal to ensure it sank. 2/
Nov 22, 2022 • 5 tweets • 1 min read
Based on our experiences last summer, one way to bust this threat from VCs lies with line managers/HoDs. Ask them daily "here's my work plan for today: am I in breach of contract if I work in this way, and, if so, shall I go home with no pay?". Make them send you home. If they don't send you home, they may struggle to deduct pay.
Oct 14, 2022 • 9 tweets • 6 min read
❓Did you know❓Earlier this year, @USSpensions proposed a new investment strategy to employers that would ramp up their leveraged liability driven investments (LDI). Yes, that's the very strategy that's in the news for having caused major problems for pension schemes... 1/ The claim from USS in a message from @Barker4Kate to employers is that they've weathered the storm (so far). This is believable, because their cashflows are much easier to manage than in closed schemes, and they may not have got far ramping up the leverage when the crisis hit. 2/ Image
Mar 2, 2022 • 14 tweets • 8 min read
Why am I so angry about what happened at the @USSpensions JNC last week? Because the way #USS concluded the 2020 valuation was not in accordance with the scheme rules and undercut @UCU's influence on the JNC, possibly permanently. You need to know about this. 1/ The Joint Negotiating Committee is an oddity, unique among UK pension schemes. It was a hard-won concession extracted by the union during the formation of the scheme in the 1970s. If the misapplication of the rules by #USS is allowed to stand, I believe it is effectively dead. 2/
Feb 20, 2022 • 10 tweets • 7 min read
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) 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…
Feb 19, 2022 • 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.
Feb 16, 2022 • 8 tweets • 5 min read
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)
Feb 16, 2022 • 4 tweets • 3 min read
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/
Nov 16, 2021 • 12 tweets • 6 min read
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/
Sep 25, 2021 • 11 tweets • 5 min read
❓ 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/
Sep 3, 2021 • 18 tweets • 7 min read
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/
Sep 1, 2021 • 14 tweets • 8 min read
Want a whistle-stop summary of how we ended up hurtling towards industrial action over #USS? Here's a brief summary. 1/ 1. The valuation date

@USSpensions ploughed ahead with a valuation using market data from the peak of market turmoil in the first wave of COVID (31 March 2020), wiping billions off the value of the scheme's assets.
Sep 11, 2020 • 12 tweets • 5 min read
"Tired of your old Test 1? Always found the linakage too rigidly mechanical? Then welcome to the new, improved Metric A!" Or so the marketing spiel seems to go. But look below the surface and you'll find all the same logical flaws and a near identical ramping up of costs. 1/ I will try and keep this as accessible as possible, because #USS can't be allowed to bluff their way through this stuff. First, a recap. What was wrong with Test 1? 2/
Apr 9, 2020 • 24 tweets • 12 min read
Okay, time for that #USS update! This thread is going to take in as much of what's going on as possible. And that is *a lot*. I will try to be as concise as I can, but this could be a long one. Happy Easter break. 1/ Firstly, the #USS board has confirmed it is proceeding with the 2020 valuation using market data as at 31 March. It is hard to see how a meaningful assessment of the scheme's long-term health can be made as that date, but that's what we're going to have to try and do. 2/
Mar 10, 2020 • 28 tweets • 9 min read
I wrote a quick reaction to the 2020 methodology "discussion document" that #USS released yesterday, but I didn't go into detail on the claims I made. Allow me to do some of that in a thread now. 1/

medium.com/ussbriefs/the-… There are three main problems I identified in #USS's document:

1. The dual-discount rate they illustrate is a very close match for their old methodology;
2. Test 1 has been replaced by Test 1 v2.0;
3. We are still hitting a brick wall when it comes to evidence.

2/
Dec 19, 2019 • 12 tweets • 7 min read
The release of the Joint Expert Panel's second report and the clear resolve shown by @UCU members mean we are now in a strong position to make major changes to how #USS is managed. A future free from the intense acrimony of recent years is possible. We need to make it happen. 1/ In September, I wrote that it was essential we take a stand over #USS in order to shift the balance of power in the discussions. The resounding mandate and first wave of strike action have totally changed the dynamics of recent meetings. 2/ medium.com/ussbriefs/why-…