16 September 2011

UCU ballot results over changes to USS

The UCU ballot in relation to changes to USS which has been running throughout the summer closed yesterday. The outcome of the ballot was a vote in favour of strike action and action short of a strike. Around 42% of the total UCU membership voted, with 58% voting in favour of strike action (25% of UCU membership) and 77% voting in favour of action short of a strike (32% of UCU membership). UCU have posted the results to the ballot on an aggregated basis, combining all votes posted nationally into one overall result, rather than providing an institution by institution breakdown of votes cast within each University.

Although no formal notification of the nature and timing of any potential future action has been received, the University understands that UCU are planning to co-ordinate their action potentially as early as mid-October, and there is a chance that UCU may wish to take action alongside public sector unions who voted at this week’s TUC conference in favour of strike action over public sector pension reforms, including a national day of action on 30 November.

The University is committed to ensuring that the impact of any industrial action is minimised, particularly in relation to the student experience. Work will be taking place to plan for and respond to any action that is taken by UCU. More information will be provided as soon as it is known.

Meanwhile, the changes agreed by the USS Board are due to be implemented from 1 October 2011, and members of USS will see changes to their contribution levels in their October pay, with new members after 1 October joining USS in the Career Average Re-valued Earnings section.