People Before Profit congratulate UCU activists for mounting opposition to the dodgy pension deal put forward by the UCU negotiations team and UUK yesterday.
A revolt from the rank and file of UCU stopped this deal going ahead as workers unveiled banners at picket lines, occupied campuses, and organised emergency meetings across the UK, with over 40 branches voting to reject the pitiful ‘compromise’.
The deal was a long way from what workers deserve. In reality it would have been a massive capitulation from the UCU leadership, and an acceptance of the myth perpetrated by University Management that there is a deficit that must be dealt with by cutting workers’ pensions.
The deal would have meant workers paying higher contributions and getting less in retirement. But perhaps most objectionably, it stated that UCU would “encourage” members to “prioritise the rescheduling of teaching” that was cancelled during the strike, forcing workers to work for free in order to cover the backlog created by the strike. On top of all this, it contained within it a clause which meant that after three years there could be a new (and potentially worse) scheme put forward by management.
UCU members have sent a message that they intend to emphatically continue with this fight. Their demands: a fair pension scheme with no increase of the contributions they have to pay, and a stable and guaranteed level of benefits. We have already forced management to the negotiating table, despite their instance that no concessions would be made; more action can turn the tide even more in favor of UCU staff.
Undoubtedly the rejection has come about because of the pressure that members and activists of the local UCU branches have put on the national leadership. No one, least of all the negotiating committee of the UCU, should be surprised by how angry the workers are, and how powerful their collective action has become over the last three weeks.
UCU activists in Universities across both the North and Britain have been on the picket lines in rain, snow and freezing temperatures. For three weeks students have been supporting their lecturers, joining them on the protests and sending messages of solidarity. For three weeks universities have been closed and Alternative Universities have thrived, where higher education has been like it was always supposed to be: free, accessible and inspiring.
The spirit of solidarity and unity is strong. Now is the time to send a resounding message to the corporate elites governing the Universities: there will be no capitulation over the pensions dispute.
The strike has been incredibly successful not only in putting forward the clear demands of UCU members on pensions, but also in opening the conversation about the future of higher education as a whole: serious questions are now being asked about managements intention to commercialise higher education; to increase casualised labor on campus, and to continue to run-down of third level education at the expense of workers and students alike.
The fight for safe and fair pensions continues. Not only should we demand a fair deal on pensions, but we should seek to tie this in with a wider to stop the corporate take-over of campuses, and reclaim our universities. PBP offers its full solidarity with the UCU strike. Their activism has been an inspiration to trade unionists everywhere.
The actions of the UCU rank and file has destroyed the myth that militant trade unionism is a thing of the past, and a victory here will give workers in other sectors the confidence needed to fight.
