End to USS pension dispute

The recent UCU member ballot saw a majority vote (67%) in favour of accepting the latest USS pension proposals and an end was subsequently called to the dispute.

The St Andrews branch sent a delegate to the special briefing meeting in Manchester on the 28th January, at which Michael McNeil, head of negotiations, presented a report emphasising the aggressive and complex negotiating environment of the dispute. Our delegate presented the views of the branch, as expressed at our general meeting of 21 January, principally that the branch was in favour of returning to action. Several other branches expressed this view; and several branches expressed the view that the action had been as effective as possible in the circumstances, and would have been very difficult to sustain.  It seems that the campaigning emphasis for the future will be to persuade HEIs to contest the valuation methodology of the pension scheme.

The JNC agreed to progress the changes to USS with an expected implementation date of 1 April 2016.