Many QMUL staff will be shocked to receive a paycut in their April payslip.
Pay Cut
Starting from 1st April, the Government has abolished the 1.4% NI rebate given to those who’d contracting out of the State Pension in favour of a work place pension. So for everyone with a USS or SAUL pension, that amounts to roughly an additional £23 deductions to your pay. More details are here and here.
Pay Cut
And from 1st April, USS have closed their Final Salary and old CRB pension schemes. All staff with a USS pension are now forced into the ‘USS Retirement Income Builder’ scheme – with an 8% increase in employee contributions. More details are here.
Pay Squeeze
In real terms, university pay has fallen by 14.5% since 2009. For QMUL and other London universties, that decrease is nearer to 17% . In response, the university employers (UCEA) are currently offering only a 1% increase for 2016-2017, a payrise that won’t even counter the pension related deductions outlined above.
Pay Ballot
UCU and other unions are demanding a 5% pay rise. This would offest the losses from pension contributions and help arrest the long-term decline in the value of our pay. As part of this demand, UCU is balloting its members on strike action. If you’ve not received your ballot paper yet, you should do so in the next few days.
Back the UCU campaign:
Vote YES for strike action
Vote YES for action short of a strike
qmucu.org 