Proposed pension changes will hit lowest paid university staff

Cleaners, caterers, librarians, administrators, exams officers and other low-paid staff at the University of Southampton will lose thousands of pounds in their retirement if proposed pension changes are pushed through, unions have warned today (Monday). UNISON and Unite say there is no need to close the final salary pension scheme at the end of July, as top managers at the university are proposing. A consultation over the changes opened on Friday, and closes mid-March. Southampton University wants to replace the defined benefit scheme with a defined contribution one. This would see the 2,000 support staff currently contributing to the pension scheme putting in much more, yet getting out significantly less – even if they were to pay in the maximum amount. Both unions, which represent about 700 support staff across the university, are meeting today (Monday) to work out their next steps. UNISON and Unite have put forward an alternative paper, setting out why they believe the university’s proposals are flawed. They are offering to discuss their compromise suggestion, which would involve a move to a career average scheme. UNISON and Unite say the plan to slash the retirement incomes for low-paid staff should be viewed against the controversial pay package of a reported £433,000 for the university’s vice-chancellor Sir Christopher Snowden. Unite regional co-ordinating officer Ian Woodland said: “We’ll engage constructively with the consultation process, but there’s no ...
Source: UNISON meat hygiene - Category: Food Science Authors: Tags: News Press release librarian libraries pensions university Source Type: news