ACADEMICS have voted to reject proposed changes to their pension scheme, amid concerns they could lose thousands of pounds.
The University and College Union (UCU) balloted members over proposed alterations to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) saying the changes are “unacceptable” and will leave staff out of pocket.
A typical new starter lecturer could lose £127,000 in total if made to take a careers average pension scheme instead of the final salary scheme in place for current staff, UCU claimed.
The results of the ballot, announced at UCU’s annual congress in Manchester, yesterday showed 96% of lecturers who responded rejected proposals from the Employers Pensions Forum (EPF) to reform the USS.
Turn-out for the ballot was 60.5%, with 21,214 academics responding.
USS is the main pension scheme for academic and support staff in more than 300 universities, and is the second largest private pension fund in the UK.
