Union Unite has said it will ballot on strike action over new pension proposals by the University of Dundee, while Unison has just finished four weeks of strikes over the issue and said it will consider further action later in the year.  

 

Dundee University is looking to close its career average pension scheme to new entrants from January next year, having scrapped a previous proposal to close it entirely. For existing members, the university has said it plans to increase member contributions by 1% of salary, as well as bring the normal pension age to 68 from currently 65 and reduce the accrual rate to 1/100th from 1/80th. A tax-free cash lump sum that is currently built up at 3/80th would accrue at 3/100th under the new proposals. The consultation closes on 24 June. 

 

The new pension proposals follow a previous dispute when the university had intended to replace the CARE scheme with a defined contribution scheme, closing it to accrual. Five days of strike action and a statement by Scotland’s first minister last autumn meant the original closure proposals were dropped, with the university saying it would work with unions on alternatives that include DB provision.  

   

   

   

In response, union Unite will ballot 100 workers for further strike action, with the ballot running from 23 May until 10 June, noting that any industrial action would likely coincide with the start of the academic year in September. In a consultative ballot, 94% rejected the new pension proposals. 

 

“Six months of feet-dragging by the University has only stiffened our members’ resolve. They have Unite’s full support in the defence of their pensions and strike action is now firmly back on the cards,” said Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary. 

 

Susan Robertson, Unite industrial officer, added: “The mandate and turnout in our recent consultative ballot over the pension proposals is stronger than it was last October when our members took strike action. This is testament to the anger and resentment our members feel because they have been strung along for months by the University’s management.” 

 

Robertson said Unite remains open for “meaningful consultation and negotiations” but added that “if there is no movement by management then they should prepare for long-term disruption starting in the new academic year”. 

 

Unison, which has several hundred members at the university, has just finished four weeks of strike action over the pensions issue. A live ballot expired on 17 May. “We now need to consider whether we will re-ballot our members with a view to taking strike action later in the year,” said regional organiser Maureen Dickson.

The University and College Union is not balloting members over the pensions proposals, having only a very small number in this pension fund. The majority of UCU members at the university are in the Universities Superannuation Scheme scheme and currently in dispute with the employer over cuts to USS, as well as over pay and conditions.

UCU said new strike dates and a marking and assessment boycott are in the pipeline over USS changes.
 

   

  

The university said it will “carefully consider” feedback, noting it has run a series of consultation sessions with members in April and May is engaging with staff. 

 

“We have made a competitive offer in relation to the University of Dundee Superannuation Scheme (UoDSS) which presents existing scheme members with real choice. We remain committed to full consultation with the campus unions, a process which still has over a month to run,” said a spokesperson for the University of Dundee. 

 

The DC scheme for new entrants – which will also be open to staff wanting to switch away from CARE – “will ensure that there is a pension offering that is more affordable to those who are not served by the current DB scheme and widens the availability of a pension to many more than the current members”, the spokesperson said. 

 

The university is proposing the changes because it says the costs of providing the CARE scheme have risen and that there is a risk of further increases in the future, blaming funding issues. “The University needs to control costs as the Higher Education sector funding environment is uncertain,” it said in a member communication. 

 

The University currently contributes 28.3% of salary to the pension scheme, as well as deficit contributions. At the last valuation as at July 2020, the deficit had increased, it said, while the cost of providing future benefits was also going up, adding: “As a result of the factors above, the University concluded that it should explore alternative options and different means of providing benefits to ensure financial stability in the future and to secure current benefits.”