Swansea University lecturers strike in row over pensions and pay

Swansea University lecturers are among staff in Wales walking out in a row over pensions and pay amid 10 days of UK-wide strike action.

More than one million students will be affected as around 50,000 members of the UCU at 44 universities walk out in an ongoing fight against pension cuts. Staff at a further 24 universities will strike over pay and working conditions from February 21.

In Wales, UCU members at Swansea University and the Open University (OU) are joining both actions.

They said members will lose 35% of the value of their pensions under proposed changes and claimed around 20% of pay is being lost. Pickets will be held at Swansea’s Singleton campus and the OU offices in Cardiff.

Sports and exercise science lecturer Andy Harvey, who represents Swansea University’s 800-strong UCU branch, said staff felt angry and undervalued. Lectures and other work will be cancelled due to the industrial action but he hoped students would understand.

“We stand to lose 35% of the value of out pensions. That’s not acceptable,” he said.

“It will affect younger colleagues worst and will make the profession less attractive. That will affect the quality of people who want to work for universities and universities’ standing.”

The lecturer said work would be disrupted but students he had spoken to were supportive.“Staff feel angry that after two years going out of our way to make sure universities pulled through the pandemic we are being told our pensions are being cut.

“It is a kick in the teeth. It makes us feel undervalued and resentful. We don’t seem to have had our efforts recognised by universities across the country.”

A series of strikes were held in the ongoing dispute before the pandemic. At that time both Cardiff and Bangor University UCU members walked out but not Swansea University members.

Wales UCU policy officer Jamie Insole said: "The pensions dispute centres on a decision by Universities UK and USS (pension provider) to walk out of negotiations before seeking to impose a 35% unilateral cut to entitlement. This move followed an evaluation that was carried out during the crisis which attended the first Covid lockdown."

The UCU said in a statement that university leaders have "failed staff and students". It said "universities can more than afford to meet the demands" of members.

"University finance figures, from 2019-20, show total income across the sector was £41.9bn with reserves of £46.8bn.

"University employers refused to withdraw cuts to the universities superannuation scheme (USS) or accept UCU’s compromise proposals which would have seen staff and employers pay slightly more to protect benefits and resolve the pension dispute.

“Last week the pension scheme trustee USS, which runs the scheme, confirmed UCU’s proposals are viable and implementable. UUK’s proposals, which will see 35% cut from the guaranteed retirement income of members, are set to be formalised on Tuesday, February 22.

“This dispute is over a 20% real-terms pay cut over the past 12 years, unmanageable workloads, pay inequality, and the use of exploitative and insecure contracts, which are rife across the sector,” the UCU added.

University strike dates

Feb 14-18 (USS pension dispute only, 44 institutions)

Feb 21-22 (both pension and pay and working conditions dispute, 68 institutions)

Feb 28-March 2 (pay and working conditions dispute only, 63 institutions)

Swansea University said it has contingency plans to minimise disruption to students.

A university spokesman said: "The planned industrial action by the University and College Union (UCU) relates to two national disputes – one relating to pay and conditions, and the other relating to planned changes to the USS pension scheme.

"Swansea University is neither the instigator nor the owner of the USS pension scheme reform process and cannot act unilaterally. We are committed to keeping colleagues and trade unions fully informed and to continuing to work with them but any solution will be a UK-wide one.

"We will be working with UUK to ensure that a solution is found which is equitable and fair but also affordable for staff and our university.

"In respect of pay, annual negotiations are led nationally. In addition to this we are proud to be an accredited real living wage employer.

"Swansea University has good relations with our trade unions and we are committed to working with them on the local issues identified by the UCU.

"We have already made significant inroads across several key areas by working in partnership with trade union colleagues both at a local and regional level. This includes a number of measures to improve staff wellbeing and to tackle workload pressures and we continue to engage with staff and unions to explore opportunities to support colleagues further."

Staff at the Open University are taking two extra days of strike action because the teaching model is different to a standard university week with the bulk of tutorials taking place during the weekend.

A spokesman for the Open University said: “The OU remains supportive of ongoing national discussions over university pension schemes and pay and conditions.

We have invested significantly in our staff and remain committed to providing a desirable pension which is affordable, accessible, and sustainable for all.

“We are disappointed that a resolution has not yet been found but recognise our staff’s right to participate in industrial action.

Our priority is to minimise potential disruptions to students and we are confident the majority of staff will be working as normal as strike action goes ahead.”