Northumbria University management plan to freeze staff pay unless they move pension. Here are some heartfelt testimonials from Northumbria University staff, regarding the harrowing, unfair, and inequitable potential impacts of management's plans.
Northumbria University Plans for Pay and Pensions: The Reality
“I don't normally strike, but this pensions proposal is enough to get me on the picket line. I feel like I'm being forced to sort out the university's problems, none of which I caused. The university's raid on my salary is making me rethink my options for retirement. I wonder: how does the university's treatment of me chime with its heavily publicised values and behaviours? It feels to me as though the university's senior management only sees money, and does not care for the human beings who work here.”
“I have multiple sclerosis and therefore I am automatically considered disabled under the Equality Act 2010 due to the nature of the condition. I am 38 and currently fit and well and I hope to stay this way for a long time but there are no guarantees. MS is cruel in that the long-term prognosis is entirely unknown. Under the Teachers Pension I have ill-health protections if my condition worsens as I was a member prior to diagnosis. If I was to move to USS, their guidance says I would lose these ill-health protections for 5 years minimum. I am about to become a new Mum which among all the other changes increases my chances of an MS relapse. In the midst of this I am being told my options are to take less pay or lose ill-health protections. This feels like direct discrimination as I feel unable to take the gamble on losing ill-health protections and therefore will be left with less pay on the basis I have a disability.”
“I was diagnosed about 20 years ago with low-grade follicular lymphoma. At the time I was told that my average life expectancy was ten to fifteen years. I have an annual check-up at the hospital and they currently have no concerns. Any specialist doctor would say that this is incurable, that it could return in the next five years, and that I should plan for that possibility. I am 56 years old and would want ill-health cover to be in place for at least five years. I have worked here for 25 years, and have been a schoolteacher before that, so my TPS pension history is long. I wanted to make sure I had some quality of life, in case I don’t get a retirement.”
“All financial modelling shows that it is too late for me to transfer into USS and make the necessary adjustments to achieve the same retirement benefits as I will have with TPS. Therefore, for somebody of my age, freezing my salary because I stay with TPS as the only way to retain promised benefits, built up from over forty years of contributions, feels simply punitive. As this salary freeze disproportionally affects a specific age group, that is anybody in the TPS retirement range of 55 and over who are too old to make meaningful changes to their pension, this appears to be age discrimination. Furthermore, should I opt for retirement on 31 July 2026 to avoid the salary freeze and preserve my pension benefits, my leaving will feel insidiously like being forced out as an older member of staff.”
“I am a female academic member of staff aged over 55. I joined academia in 2009 after a career in practice and almost immediately worked part-time due to caring responsibilities. I was a carer for an elderly relative with cancer for many years, and I still have a school-aged child. I have health concerns and had to have a fairly serious operation last year. Therefore, the TPS ill-health cover and the overall value of the pension, particularly as I still have family responsibilities, are of great concern to me. I am seen as a senior researcher and have brought in millions of pounds of funding. Therefore I expected this period of my academic career to boost my overall pension pot and give me peace of mind about any health-related concerns that might affect my ability to work and support my family. My understanding is that, if I were to move to USS, I would lose this peace of mind. Therefore, I feel forced to remain on TPS because of its associated benefits and the stability of its overall package.”
“I am really concerned that I am facing the choice of a pay freeze or joining a USS pension scheme that will significantly prejudice my retirement plans. I've been at Northumbria since 2022 (although I worked here briefly a few years before). I'm in my early 60s and am recovering from cancer. Thankfully I received the all clear in April. Even so, I am registered disabled. I was hoping to retire in three or four years but the university's announcement means I will have to rethink this plan. Either I will be poorer during retirement or I will have to work longer: this is a horrible choice to make.”
“I believe I have about 5 years employment left before I plan to retire. Because I believe I am mid-way through my grade point increases, there are only limited annual increases left. Remaining on TPS therefore disadvantages me twice: I miss out on 5 annual ‘cost of living’ pay rises, plus the associated additional contributions to my pension fund so affecting the pension that I can draw later. Therefore, although we haven’t been given sufficient information to calculate this with certainty, my understanding is that the combined economic disadvantage of remaining on TPS under the University’s proposals will be greater than £10k in today’s money (not taking account of any tax implications and cost of living rises) – this means that those with health, family and age-related concerns are directly discriminated against by the University’s proposals.”
