Here’s what Northumbria University UCU members and academics have to say about the impact on them personally and their students of management’s plans to cut their pay unless they change to a private pension, and to take the university out of national collective bargaining to do so.
"After nearly thirty years of service to the university I am outraged at this attempt to subject me to inferior pay unless I agree to a different pension scheme from one I have relied upon throughout my time here and which I am, by law, entitled to be a member of."
"I gave up a higher paying job offer in the United States and moved my family to the United Kingdom because of the terms and conditions offered at Northumbria, which included, in no small part, the Teacher's Pension Scheme. For that to just be unilaterally taken away is a complete violation of the trust I put in my employer. I used to be very happy about my decision to move and would recommend that colleagues in the United States consider coming over here. I certainly would not do so any more."
"They're framing it as a choice, but it's more like blackmail. We can choose between moving to a pension scheme that will leave many of us worse off, or accepting an indefinite pay freeze. However they dress it up, that's a pay cut. It feels like they don't value us, despite everything they ask us to do. They want us to do world-leading research. Most staff have heavy teaching loads, and we're expected to do academic citizenship roles that typically involve a lot of administrative work on top of the research and teaching. That's at least three jobs, rather than one, and for the price of a pay cut. To say that I'm feeling demotivated would be an understatement."
"I'm disgusted with the university. They are legally obliged to offer the TPS scheme and freezing the pay of hard-working staff who want to stay in it is an appallingly punitive measure to take. The university are punishing the people who made it so successful, making staff pay for their poor planning and overspending on vanity projects."
"No one takes 20 days of strike action lightly. As a recognised expert I have taken time and care to design and plan a specific learning journey for students – I want to be in the classroom teaching this. I want to be writing and delivering my funded research projects. When we strike, we lose our pay each day – I'm a single parent with 3 children living at home, given the current increase in fuel and food this is a heavy hit. Striking is a last resort – the future of our pay, pensions and working conditions is at stake. The changes Northumbria University are imposing will impact me the rest of my working life AND into my retirement. It's very stressful, and completely unnecessary for workers to be put through this."
"I am extremely concerned. I have a young family, and this situation is affecting my mental health. I am worried about what the future holds. I am being forced into an impossible choice: move pension schemes and lose a substantial portion of my pension, or stay and accept a cut in pay. This is fundamentally unfair. I am doing the same job as my colleagues, yet I am expected to accept less pay. That is not acceptable."
"I feel despondent, not only for my own future at Northumbria, but for the sector as a whole. When staff are subject to these kinds of 'choices' people will either leave, or be so demoralised and overworked that they can't give their all."
"I hope the students understand that we are fighting for our situation now and for their futures. Whatever sectors they go into, these kinds of management actions set a precedent for poor treatment of staff and make it more possible to happen again and again.”
"One of the things that has stayed with me throughout this dispute is the hurtful way in which the situation has been framed by management. From the start, it was as if staff in TPS had done something selfish or wrong for opting into a pension scheme that was – as far as I can recall – THE ONLY SCHEME ON OFFER. Our pensions seemed to be a burden that we had inflicted upon management and – because of that – the financial obligations of TPS should now be our 'problem' to solve on the University's behalf. Had our wages not been depressed for the majority of my working life I might feel differently, but the prospect of an indefinite pay freeze when there are more demands on our time than ever is hugely disincentivising. At the same time, I want the University and our students to know how much we love and care about the work that we do. This is not a job that anyone goes into for the big bucks, but that doesn't mean that we should not be properly remunerated; it certainly doesn't mean that we should be punished for refusing to accept a situation that will leave many of us significantly worse off when/if we do eventually retire."
"The pressures the university are putting its staff under have an immediate and tangible impact on students. They are not going to have their best educational experience if they are being taught by demoralised and exhausted staff who are worried about their present and future finances and are being overloaded with extra work to cover those who make the understandable decision to leave the sector."
“I no longer have imposter syndrome. Senior management are paid tens of thousand more than me and have trashed the reputation of the University of the Year in less than two years with their financial illiteracy, short sightedness and obsession with personal legacy. Everything seems to be a CV building exercise for them and to hell with the consequences for the staff and students. They’ve managed to do all of this because of zero accountability from Governors, MPs, or the wider UK government, and when they’re done here will move on to another University as if nothing happened. It’s an utter scandal.”
"After years of loyal service to Northumbria University we are once more bullied by senior management over our pay, pensions and working conditions. They say that the University needs to save £25 million but have plenty of money to buy new buildings as this is what attracts students to Northumbria. Apart from how insulting it is to be told that we are not worth investing into, this statement is also untrue. It is for the fantastic academic tutors that the students come to Northumbria University, not for fancy buildings. Other Universities are watching and if senior management beats us, they will try the same all over the country. But thanks to the support of the students and the UCU, we will continue our fight. If we do nothing, they will do anything."
"University management are changing our pay structure so that there are 3 levels of pay for the same job. This is grossly unfair and demoralising. Lecturers feel more undervalued than ever and have lost trust in managers who have failed in their running of the university and now want to take money out of our pockets. Despite this callousness and lack of support, lecturers continue to work long hours and try their best for their students knowing that their workload will continue to rise due to redundancies."
“The introduction of a new pay structure that is out of sync with other universities in the country is a threat to staff morale, the student experience, and the university's reputation, and ultimately leads to negative outcomes for our students. Staff members have a moral duty to fight against this injustice to act as role models for students and to try to ensure a secure career path for them. Morale is at an all time low whilst the managers who created the problems continue on as usual, or worse move to new jobs where they are promoted."
"As we are early in our careers we’ve spent over a decade studying before we could even begin paying into a pension. Now, just as we've finally secured the “stable jobs” that allow us to buy homes and settle down, we're facing an indefinite pay freeze or a less secure pension. We're being forced into decisions based on limited information, with no real choice in the matter. With 37 years of working life still ahead of us, this is an incredibly stressful and difficult decision to make."
"The university is imposing a unilateral contract change, which they are branding the total reward package, but in effect is forcing me between making a sacrifice now or making a sacrifice in the future. When I joined Northumbria I took into account its subscription to TPS, which is a very good pension scheme, and I'm counting on this as deferred pay. I would have been able to earn substantially more at a different university and/or employer, but the pension scheme was a leading factor in me choosing this employer. I feel betrayed and angry. What further compounds the situation is that the university has consistently lied to us about willing to engage in good-faith negotiations. This is evident for example by the fact that they only engaged in conversations with the Union after they've already made enquiries about joining USS as a pension scheme. This in spite of the fact that the Union repeatedly requested information on whether this was considered. They straight up lied to us on this point. The university has also not engaged in good faith negotiations with the union as the plans were presented. They have rapidly exhausted these to push through a change ahead of national bargaining. The same goes for the implementation of an equality impact assessment. This was not in place when it was first launched and has been cobbled together as we go along. It’s unacceptable and the university does not seriously consider the unequal the pension plan has for various groups (women, disabled, those close to retirement, international colleagues).It seems that university is willing to go ahead and enforce this unilateral contract change on me under the threat of fire and rehire or pointing to other employers which have used subsidiary companies to offer inferior pensions in higher education. This causes me a lot of distress as well as many colleagues whom I've spoken to. We are all being forced to choose to make a sacrifice now, or down the line in retirement. It is unacceptable.”
