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Universities sent warning on USS action

7 June 2019

UCU has written to 69 institutions in the USS scheme warning that if they fail to confirm by Wednesday 19 June that they will limit members' contributions to 8%, or meet the cost of any additional contributions, then the union will prepare for an industrial action ballot in September.

The union says USS members have been frustrated by a lack of progress in the dispute that saw universities brought to standstill last year by unprecedented levels of strikes. The universities have been accused of failing to exert their influence over USS and allowing it to ignore the key findings of the Joint Expert Panel (JEP) that was set up to review the scheme.

If implemented in full, the JEP report would have resulted in combined contributions of no higher than 26% - 8% for members. However, USS has now presented three options all of which all fail the union's 'no detriment' policy of no increases in contributions and no cuts to benefits.

The higher education committee next meets on 28 June to consider the response and next steps.

Read the full press release here

Last updated: 7 June 2019