Sam Marsh
@Sam_Marsh101
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You might know me from UCU/maths/pensions/Sheffield/elsewhere. Trustee director of the USS pensions scheme and ex-UCU national negotiator.
Sheffield, England
Joined June 2018
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This was painful to be part of. When the establishment lines up to protect itself, right becomes wrong, up becomes down, reason goes out of the window. What happened today was utterly appalling: the worst I've experienced on the JNC. I'll write more at some point.
#USSmess
BREAKING: The Universities Superannuation Scheme Joint Negotiating Committee has today formally voted to implement cuts to future
#pension
benefits for tens of thousands of UK university sector staff.
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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/
Yesterday's decision by the
@USSpensions
board has breach of trust written all over it. The trustee set up a rigged negotiation process through a misapplication of the scheme rules, to the detriment of the scheme's membership. This cannot go unchallenged.
#USSmess
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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
)
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Turns out I'm not the only member of the
@UCU
negotiating team awake in the middle of the night working on ideas to resolve the dispute. I only hope our VCs are doing the same. Don't let anyone tell you that staff are entering into this lightly or failing to negotiate properly.
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How are you planning on spending your birthday? Me? I'm off to the
@USSpensions
JNC to prevent the power structures from imposing savage cuts to our pensions despite a dramatically strengthened scheme and an apparent breach of the scheme rules.
#USSmess
#USSStrike
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
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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/
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We're meeting with
@UniversitiesUK
again this afternoon. Don't read anything into that, but I thought you should know.
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Well well well.
@SheffieldUni
go for the jugular, and opt for 100% pay deductions for the marking and assessment boycott. Sorry students, that's me locked out of helping you prepare for your exam next Friday, or with any extenuating circumstances.
@ecroxford1
@savsheffSU
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Important day for all members of
@USSpensions
!
@ewanmcg
&
@nm_davies
's legal challenge is in progress at the High Court. If they succeed they move to a full legal hearing against the scheme's directors for, among other things, proceeding with an out-of-cycle March 2020 valuation.
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About to meet
@UniversitiesUK
, for the second time this week. There has been a lot of activity behind the scenes during the first four days of the action (though don't take that to mean we're about to make a breakthrough). A formal JNC is currently scheduled for 22 February.
#USS
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For those trying to understand why employers are playing hardline, engaging in bad faith negotiation, or not negotiating at all, I refer you to this quote in the
@guardian
last year. (I'll retweet this every day, or as often as I remember.)
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
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On strike, no pay, rarely ever worked so hard. (The life of a union negotiator.)
#UCUstrike
#UCUstrikesback
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Yesterday's decision by the
@USSpensions
board has breach of trust written all over it. The trustee set up a rigged negotiation process through a misapplication of the scheme rules, to the detriment of the scheme's membership. This cannot go unchallenged.
#USSmess
BREAKING: The
#USS
trustee board today agreed to proceed with controversial
#pension
cuts for tens of thousands of
#university
sector members, effective from April 2022.
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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/
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It seems VCs at
@USSemployers
are struggling to understand what they need to do to end the threat of heavy industrial action over
#USS
, and I'm appalled by how little "leadership" we're seeing from such highly paid servants of the sector. Let me enlighten them. 1/
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A 2021 valuation would be "no silver bullet" says
@USSpensions
chair
@Barker4Kate
in her article in
@timeshighered
from last week. Well, with prudence ramped up this high, it almost makes the 2020 valuation look good.
(Thanks to Jackie Grant of
@SussexUCU
for updating the graph!)
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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/
This was painful to be part of. When the establishment lines up to protect itself, right becomes wrong, up becomes down, reason goes out of the window. What happened today was utterly appalling: the worst I've experienced on the JNC. I'll write more at some point.
#USSmess
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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
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This beggars belief! A well-evidenced paper demonstrates irrefutably that the claim of a 10-18% reduction by
@UniversitiesUK
- sent to VCs as well as members - was a major and highly misleading understatement, and UUK respond by simply repeating their assertion, evidence free.
It is reasonable for us to conclude in headline terms - based on the ‘middle of the road’ personas developed for typical scheme members - that reductions in retirement benefits will be in the range of 10-18%.
2/
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To those in need of a reminder: any argument legitimising the erosion of the pay scale is an argument for entrenched intergenerational inequality. This includes "but increments" and "I don't need more pay". Please show solidarity with future generations.
#UCUstrikesback
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This weekend, Observer economics editor
@phillipinman
wrote an article on the
#USS
dispute, which enraged many within
@UCU
due to the inaccuracies it contained and the inflamatory conclusion.
What was wrong with it? Here are the errors I found. 1/
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Message to Vice-Chancellors: You need to step up on
#USS
. Your representatives at
@UniversitiesUK
are not going to do it. Even the
@FT
knows how serious this is, and that it will end with an independent enquiry. 1/
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Yes, this is true! If I'm now helping to look after your pension, I will do it as well as I'm possibly able to.
👀The
@USSpensions
website👇has been updated today to let us know that "Sam [
@sam_marsh101
] became a Director of Universities Superannuation Scheme Limited on 12 August 2024." I cannot think of a better choice to represent the interests of members.
@ucu
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Pleased to report that today's talks were constructive, though there won't be an offer for HEC to consider on Friday. HEC will get an update on the negotiations which should allow some room for discussion. We plan to meet UUK again next Tuesday and hope for progress.
I'm always optimistic about finding resolutions to disputes, perhaps too much so. On the
#USS
dispute, a resolution is well within the employers' capabilities. I very much hope that they too are seeking to find one, and that the negotiations today go well. 4/4
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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"
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/
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In acting as a buffer between
@UCU
and VCs around the country,
@UniversitiesUK
have been a major blockage in resolving the
#USS
dispute. Branches need to hammer this message hard: it's now on VCs to read
@UCU
's demands and impel UUK to act before things get even worse.
"Vice-chancellors need to speak out and press their negotiators to come back to the table with meaningful actions that can actually resolve the dispute.
#UCUStrike
#UCUStrikesBack
3/
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More constructive discussions with
@UniversitiesUK
today, but still no movement from VCs.
Branches/picketers: this one's on you. It's all about local pressure from here. See you on the picket lines next week.
Have a good weekend, all!
#UCUstrike
#UCUstrikesback
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Hello
@BBCr4today
@JustinOnWeb
: thanks for covering the
#UCUstrike
, but you made a factual error, describing
#USS
as a "final salary scheme", which it is not, and has not been since April 2016. Correction before the end of the programme, please?
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🌟Update from Jane Hutton!🌟
Jane has posted that her employment tribunal against
@USSpensions
starts 13 May. This case will likely be quite a ride, potentially seriously damaging to the reputations of those running the scheme at the time of her dismissal.
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Today we'll see whether the
@USSpensions
board is prepared look past clear breaches of the scheme rules & regulations in order to lock in the employer covenant support they're so desperate to bank by approving savage cuts to members' pensions. I predict a breach of trust today.
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Inredible stuff by
@USSPensions
. Severe benefit cuts were made on the basis of unusual market conditions (in the middle of a once-in-a-100-years pandemic), but restoring them when those conditions were shown to be a blip would require a "very solid" basis.
#USSmess
In explaining why it decided against immediate benefit improvements or contribution cuts,
#USS
said making interim changes ahead of 2023 valuation wd be "extremely unusual" & required a "very solid" basis for decision-making, which the current level of volatility did not provide.
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Three working days until strike action begins over
#USS
, and have
@UniversitiesUK
launched a consultation with employers on
@UCU
's proposal for a resolution yet? No. No, they haven't. Indefensible,
@AlistairJarvis
.
#USSmess
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Mid-way through a
@USSpensions
JNC. We're trying here, we really are! (Expectation management: don't expect breakthroughs, but we're doing our best.)
#USSmess
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Want a whistle-stop summary of how we ended up hurtling towards industrial action over
#USS
? Here's a brief summary. 1/
URGENT USS PENSIONS NEWS:
Today
@UniversitiesUK
voted to push ahead with its plans to cut thousands of pounds from the retirement benefits of university staff in the USS pension scheme
1/
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And
@USSPensions
will not back down on this. It will have to go to the courts. I'll be making sure that happens, and am trying to figure out whether I'm best placed to do that on or off the JNC. One things for sure: there's no point in being a member of a rigged committee. 13/13
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Beyond furious that the
#USS
board suppressed this report into Jane Hutton from both scheme members and employers. Do the right thing by Jane by reading in full.
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This is the closest thing to total victory I can think of in my time in
@UCU
, and no surprises that it came from the most committed industrial action defence I've ever been part of. It really does demonstrate the power we hold when we stand together. Remember that.
New coming through from USS today. Industrial action works.
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Wow. Real-terms pay in Higher Edcuation has dropped a whole pay grade in the past 13 years. This savaging of intergenerational fairness is amoral and inexcusable. Not yet in the union? Time to choose the right side. Great work by
@rorfitelli
.
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
@PaulBlomfieldMP
What does it mean when we talk about real terms pay in Higher Education dropping by over 20%, what impact is it having on individual members, & how does it practically interact with precarity & promotions inequality?
TLDR: It's dire, & there is no valid reason for it to be.
1/
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On my way to a
#USS
Joint Negotiating Committee meeting, armed with facts, opinions, righteous anger and policy positions.
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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/
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The most useful thing by far I've read relevant to the MAB and punitive deductions is the government guidance below. I don't think I've seen an example of an employer threatening deductions for partial performance who has fully complied. Share!
#ucuRISING
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Things are heating up, with the third consecutive day of talks in London over
#USS
. Pleased that this time I'll be able to join the
@SheffieldUCU
pickets before heading down. VCs: contact
@UniversitiesUK
before 3pm to encourage movement.
🚨
#UCUStrikesBack
update: we meet UUK for further dispute negotiations *tomorrow*
The harder we strike, the stronger our leverage (though strike action should *not* be needed + it's a disgrace that it is)
✊Stand with us! Hold + grow those picket lines!✊
#USS
#UCUstrikes
/1
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@USSpensions
@RedActuary
@FirstActuarial
Shout this from the roof-tops! Your non-striking colleagues, who walked past your picket lines and undercut the action, need to know that your efforts saved one of the major benefits of working in UK HE.
#ucuRISING
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Election aside, I'm on the super early train to London for the
#USS
Joint Negotiating Committee. We will hear from Joanne Segars, chair of the Joint Expert Panel, who will update on progress on their report on valuation and scheme governance. Stay tuned for updates.
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Very pleased to see that
@UCEA1
have finally (over 3 weeks too late) agreed to restart talks over the pay and equalities dispute. Shocking that we actually had to take to the picket lines for it to happen. Good luck
@rorfitelli
,
@zenscara
and all!
After day 1 of
#UCUStrikesback
, I have arrived on a late train into London ahead of a meeting with UCEA in the morning.
Three cheers for my funny little hotel, which has a 24 hour cafe-bar with free wifi and 50% off snacks.
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Finally! The
@USSpensions
modeller appears! On their default assumptions, I make it a 36% cut to my future guaranteed income, and a 28% cut if the DC pot is taken into account as an annuity. I'm sorry
@UniversitiesUK
, but you've been severely misleading VCs (see below).
#USSmess
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So to wrap up, all the indicators and statistics show a funding position dramatically improved since the valuation date. How long will
@USSpensions
and
@USSemployers
continue to deny it? 8/8
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On the picket lines this morning? A crucial meeting on the 2020 valuation at
#USS
at 9.30am will firm up what goes out to consultation with employers later this week. Send a clear message to
@UniversitiesUK
and
#USS
that you're watching and will not be messed around.
#UCUstrike
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Update on securing a 2021
#USS
valuation to replace the pandemic-affected 2020 one:
@UniversitiesUK
say they're not interested, and
@USSpensions
won't talk about it.
Remind me who's to blame for the upcoming strike action?
#USSmess
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Just remembered the time Bill Galvin asked me if maybe I could run my tweet threads past USS before posting to try and improve relations.
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Disappointingly, the lead negotiator for
@UniversitiesUK
is from the University of Nottingham, and will have known well that this was a misrepresentation of the situation. It's quite incredible how much contempt staff in UK HE are being treated with.
#USSmess
I’m seeing quite a few people at UoN who wrote to senior management re pension cuts got a reply saying that retention of current benefits would have meant total contributions of 44.7%-46.9% and a deficit of £6.3bn. Unfortunately, this is VERY misleading. See below
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❓Did you know❓
There have been (at least) three variations of the misleading claims from
@UniversitiesUK
over the scale of the
@USSpensions
cuts, some public, some in private emails to VCs. UUK are diverting the gaze away from the worst ones. So allow me to remind you. 👀 1/
Universities accused of misleading claims over UK staff pension reforms
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So time ticks towards strike action over
#USS
, and employers around the country seem to have been misdirected by
@UniversitiesUK
over the content of
@UCU
's proposals. What are UUK so scared of? That if VCs understand the actual proposal they might settle?
#USSmess
#oneofusallofus
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It's a busy news day for
@USSpensions
! Not only has a government guarantee for the scheme been found down the back of the sofa, but new
@UCU
proposals have been announced for
@UniversitiesUK
to consider and agree.
Needless to say, I'm looking forward to Tuesday's JNC meeting.
BREAKING: We have submitted new USS pension proposals which would prevent
@UniversitiesUK
's 35% cut to guaranteed pensions and avoid UK-wide strikes next month.
Vice chancellors have been offered a route out of this dispute. They need to take it.
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ONCE AGAIN: March 2020 was a period of high volatility, but was used as a premise for savage cuts (now proven to have been a vast overreaction). Where was the "degree of caution" there,
@USSpensions
? Truly awful scheme management.
#USSmess
However, the
#USS
said market conditions had remained highly volatile since 31 March this year & as a result, the exact position of the Scheme at the end of September "cannot be established with any
certainty" with the most recent figures to be
viewed with a "degree of caution".
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Allow me some reflections on Jane Hutton's aborted employment tribunal. Jane had waited a long time to take
@USSpensions
to court over her dismissal as
@UCU
-nominated director of the scheme in 2019. So what happened? My thoughts follow.
#USSmess
#OneOfUsAllOfUS
1/
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Superb work by
@BrackleyJ
and others, uncovering the most recent financial data at
@USSpensions
institutions. Most striking piece of data for me: cash and cash-equivalent holdings grew by over 20% in 2020-21 to £8bn! That's some serious net cash generation.
#USSStrike
#FourFights
@ucu
Important new article by
@BrackleyJ
looking at the finances of
@USSpensions
participating UK
#universities
.
Finds that 59 institutions made £3.6bn surplus during 2020/21 at the same time as they cut 2,600 jobs.
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New resource: If you hear
@UniversitiesUK
/
@USSemployers
/
@USSPensions
/ your employer claiming that the cuts are the reason the scheme's now in surplus, call 'bullshit' and show them this.
#ucuRISING
June USS monitoring reports surplus. BUT now omits any data without benefit cuts, so we estimated it 🤓
🚨🚨USS estimated to have £0.3bn surplus, 100% funded WITHOUT APRIL 2022 DEVASTATING PENSION CUTS 🚨🚨
#ucuRISING
#USSMess
#NoGoodWill
@USSbriefs
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I don't think senior managers at UK Universities have any idea how bad things have got, and how close to the precipice things are. So many are leaving, looking for jobs in other sectors or forming early retirement plans. And recruitment? Now a real struggle. What a disaster!
The number of colleagues I've spoken to who want to leave the university because disgusted by its management is gobsmacking. I often feel myself on the verge but I won't give up. The university belongs to the community, not the profiteers.
@sheffielducu
@ucu_solidarity
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14
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7
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168
Made it! Well done
@ewanmcg
and
@nm_davies
for making the funding target needed to get this hearing covered. All eyes now on the hearing on 28 March.
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
2
41
167
Reminder: it was
@UniversitiesUK
's negotiating team, not the SWP, who blocked
@UCU
's proposals at the Joint Negotiating Committee.
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
#USSmess
1
59
169
Solidarity with all those struggling emotionally with an isolated day back at work today, and also to those who are on still on the picket lines. These are tough times, but we'll get through them.
#UCUstrike
#UCUstrikesback
0
34
165
@USSbriefs
It's very hard to say! It was a real pressure-cooker. We will only know when we see what happens later this week. One positive aspect: I've never seen
@UniversitiesUK
working so hard to move
#USS
.
#UCUstrike
3
33
167
Look us in the eye,
@prof_chrisday
, and tell us the money isn't there to end these diputes.
#UCUstrike
#UCUstrikesback
The Catalyst is officially open!✨ Find out more about our shiniest new addition to campus 👉
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54
169
Well this is a blast from the past! On a train to the
@USSpensions
JNC for the first time since March 2020. It's our first meeting with
@UniversitiesUK
since the ballot results, and a chance for them to avoid strikes by revoking the cuts and demanding an evidence-based valuation.
11
28
166
Here's the thing: there was never a question that
@UCU
's proposals were "viable and implementable", as they were based on numbers provided to both UCU and UUK back in August.
@UniversitiesUK
used the lack of the formal stamp (which itself takes weeks) as an excuse to do nothing.
3
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167
As the dust settles on the skirmishes of the early part of the week, some reflections on how
#USS
responded to my analysis. In short,
@UCU
's motion from June calling for Bill Galvin to resign is looking more pertinent than ever. 1/
@JosephineCumbo
@MikeOtsuka
@henryhtapper
8
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Just popping up to say yes, I've seen the USS news, but I'm off work after colliding with a white van on my bike, so you'll have to imagine my take on things. Still, there are good pain-killers nowadays it turns out.
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Another exasperating meeting at
#USS
yesterday (this time discussing technical modelling). If only we could get high quality plain, unspun evidence being discussed openly and open-mindedly between all parties (including the regulator). If only. Solidarity with Jane Hutton.
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160
Oh, and we're all eagerly awaiting the second JEP report, but this is your reminder that we already have a legal opinion from a top QC based on 9 box files of evidence that there is a case that could be brought against
#USS
on the basis of breach of trust.
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Perfect day to announce a restructure of the whole University, no?
This World Mental Health Day, and every day, help is available if you need it at any point during your time at Sheffield.
To find out about our support services, visit 👇
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Woah... I missed this! Think the improved
#USS
funding position means straightforward benefit restoration? Here's a clear indication of how
@Barker4Kate
's
@USSpensions
plan to make the emerging surplus disappear again in the 2023 valuation. I'm fuming.
#ucuRISING
#ImVotingYes
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Can
@UniversitiesUK
ever present things honestly? It doesn't seem so. Spin, spin, lie, spin,...
(20% is the total amount that goes to DC above the cap based on member and employer contributions, not the employer contribution alone, which the below is suggestive of.)
#USSmess
@Sam_Marsh101
@alvaromp78
@M_L_Bryan
This is how
#UUK
described it: "Members earning above the threshold will receive a 20% contribution into their individual pension pot (defined contributions) – something which staff who earn more than £60k per annum will already be familiar with."
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On my way to the
@USSpensions
'Institutions Meeting' with
@deepa_driver
. We want to talk with scheme directors, and also employer representatives who would like to hear
@UCU
's position straight from the horse's mouth, free from
@UniversitiesUK
's spin.
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
4
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Strike action on
#USS
is fast approaching, and what are UUK doing? Running a bizarre consultation over a tweak to their inflation cap which barely softens it and costs more than they say they'll pay, while refusing to circulate
@UCU
's proposals.
@AlistairJarvis
: must do better!
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It's really pleasing to see how good social media is at a force for spreading genuine information (as opposed to misinformation). Less than 24 hours after posting about
@USSpensions
' health, and over 10,000 clicks from people engaging with it.
@Barker4Kate
@AlistairJarvis
1
27
150
I take this back: one of
@UniversitiesUK
's team has produced some very useful analysis in his spare time over the weekend, numbers which
#USS
said they didn't have time to produce and without which it is hard to see how sensible decisions on the 2020 valuation could be made.
Looking at the timestamp of an email I've just seen from
@wkw_uk
, it appears this was happening again last night. Why do most of the efforts to get a long-term resolution to this dispute fall on us and not those paid through the nose to take responsibility?
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Incredible! UEB recommends closure of
@UniShefArch
, approves fixed-term posts to cover teaching they're worried may not be deliverable, then sells those posts with reference to the merits of the department they're proposing to close. Beyond the pale!
#SaveSheffieldArchaeology
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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.
I NEED EVERY UCU MEMBER AND SUPPORTER TO RT THIS THREAD.
University bosses are rattled. Across the UK they are threatening UCU members with unfair and immoral pay deductions if they take part in action short of striking. This thread exposes every single one of them
#ucuRISING
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For those who haven't been following, four of the most prominent and biggest buildings, which include much (most?) of the teaching space, at the University of Sheffield are now occupied and closed.
#USSmess
🚨 WE HAVE OCCUPIED THE DIAMOND!
Four fights, four buildings!
We also currently hold Jessop West, Hicks & the Arts Tower to demand the University:
👉 Supports the UCU's demands
👉 Does not close Archaeology
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
#SaveSheffieldArchaeology
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So pleased to be heading to London for negotiations over
#USS
, and open-minded and optimistic as ever. Will
@USSemployers
have read the letter we sent them at the end of last week and be ready to engage properly? Time will tell.
We will be meeting with
@USSEmployers
this afternoon, after the strikes brought them back to the table. We hope they will now seriously engage with us and we can start discussing how we move forward.
#UCUStrike
#UCUStrikesBack
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Confused by the claim that cutting benefits in
@USSpensions
has put the scheme in a more robust position? You should be! As always,
@SussexUCU
have a visualisation for that.
#USSmess
@JosephineCumbo
Here’s USS’s funding ratio graphic now including 97% funded WITHOUT benefit cuts compared with 98% funded WITH benefit cuts
March 2020 was anomalous. But USS claim slashing benefits ‘put the scheme in a more robust position.’ 🧐
#USSMess
#OneOfUsAllOfUS
@USSBriefs
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I believe
#UCUCongress2022
delegates will be electing national negotiators today. I am bowing out of
#USS
after 4 years on the team for a number of reasons, but there are excellent candidates on the list. Please look further than factional lists, especially on USS! 1/
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Seems like we're at a pivotal moment in the
#UCUstrikesback
disputes. I left our
@SheffieldUCU
EGM early to catch a train to
#USS
negotiations, but the size and mood of the meeting was eerily reminiscent of 2018. VCs should be worried when references to
#NoCapitulation
resurface.
#EscalationNoCapitulation
seems to be the mood at
@sheffielducu
post picket meeting (packed!)
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Superb work by
@nm_davies
and
@ewanmcg
in taking on
@USSpensions
and winning round 1!
@USSpensions
will eventually meet their downfall in the courts. Whether it's this action, Jane Hutton's employment tribunal, or
@ForPension
's work, their past will catch up with them.
#USSmess
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This is a very sad outcome. Those who observed the first two days of the hearing will have seen Jane defending herself from a full-scale character assassination from
@USSpensions
' lawyer. It appears their tactic worked. New lows for USS. Solidarity with Jane.
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
BREAKING: Jane Hutton has withdrawn her claim for unfair dismissal against the
#USS
pension scheme.
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Good news from
@USSpensions
, as they announce that recent market movements have done little to change the likely outcome of the 2023 valuation, which looks like it will lead to benefits being restored (when taken in conjunction with
@UniversitiesUK
's recent statement).
#ucuRISING
Dame Kate Barker, Chair of the USS Trustee Board, sent a note to sponsoring employers yesterday that, among other things, updated them on the outlook for the 2023 valuation. You can read it here:
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Perhaps more importantly,
#USS
's attempts to avoid having to discuss these figures for OVER A YEAR may have had a part to play in the biggest shut-down of higher education in decades. For that, their senior executives need to be held to account. 13/13
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Is your VC STILL being mislead by
@UniversitiesUK
? Last time they misrepresented the scale of the cuts and spread untruths about UCU's JNC proposal. This time they say they can't consult on UCU's proposal until USS gives the nod, while circulating an uncosted one of their own.🤷
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6. Provide so much data that people struggle to find the key results
Doesn't work on me, of course. Here are the statistics and graphs you need! And bear in mind that all of these are based on projections which assume negative real growth. 7/
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I like the way
#USS
are continually putting words into my mouth. I haven't made a "proposal", I've uncovered figures that they have kept to themselves for over a year that bring into question the underlying rationale of Test 1. 1/
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Is anyone else waiting for the
@USSemployers
/
@UniversitiesUK
statement on the
@USSpensions
surplus? Come on, we know you've written it.
#USSmess
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Remember this?
University of Edinburgh vice-principal Gavin McLachlan thinks slashing your
#USS
pension is "fantastic news"
Your pension is not university bosses' surplus
Vote YES
#OneOfUsAllOfUs
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