Open letter to Paul Webley SOAS Director and Principal.
Dear Paul,
We would like you and SOAS Executive Board to join us in opposing the Universities UK proposals for the USS pension scheme. A number of institutions have already broken rank and criticised Universities UK handing of the pensions issue. Warwick University has been the latest HEI to criticise the proposals.
We would ask you to declare a clear belief in the importance of a good defined benefit pension scheme that provides a secure and predictable income to staff in retirement as an essential element of a world class university.
It is important to note that the pension fund has seen surpluses in 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010, 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 etc. (USS Accounts: http://bit.ly/
We would ask you to acknowledge that the reported 'deficit' of the scheme is predicated on the assumption that a recovery fund must be calculated to pay all future pensions if all USS-scheme universities cease to operate simultaneously (Q7, EPF Q&A,http://bit.ly/whatdeficit)
We would hope you can join us in declaring that we not not believe this is a credible scenario for the basis of a recovery plan, because it takes prudence to ridiculous extremes.
Last week a group of statisticians said assumptions used by the employers in a separate briefing contained 'misinformation and a mistake' and were not adequately justified. The employers had previously removed a whole section from a different briefing after it was revealed they had misused statistics.
We hope you can use your role in UUK and the Employers’ Pension Forum to bring influence to pull back from the proposals that will change USS beyond recognition.
Best regards,
SOAS UCU executive committee
27th October 2014
University lecturers to boycott marking over pensions row
Dear SOAS UCU members,
Tuesday’s strike action was a great success! We had great support on the picket lines, covering all the most important and visible locations at RS and VS.
At the entrance of the main building, very few students or staff were coming in. The picket was effective and peaceful, and we managed to engage a number of people in constructive discussions.
The teach-out was a great success. We had a great mixture fo SOAS colleagues and external speakers. And when we all got a bit chilly and frozen through, music and dance warmed us up.
All in all we were very pleased with the level of support and activity on the day. To all of you who supported our action, THANK YOU!
To keep the pressure on our employers, UCU is gathering information nationwide about activities which were cancelled due to the strike action. With that in mind, please let us know how YOU supported the action – cancelling lectures or seminars, avoiding meetings or other commitments on the day, joining the picket lines, etc. We will take this information and send it to the national campaigns team to help counter the claims from UCEA that this day of action was not well-supported!
Also, please remember that we are still working to contract in support of the pay campaign. Please take a look at the very detailed guidance on the main UCU website here: http://www.ucu.org.uk/workingtocontract
We will keep in touch with you about future developments on the fair pay campaign, including updates on related issues both local and national.
In solidarity,
Nadje Al-Ali
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