UK universities go on strike as lecturers’ pensions axed

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By CGTN’s The Point

More than 65 universities in the UK have joined in on a sweeping strike action against the changes to lecturers’ pensions, a situation in which some academics face a potential loss of half of their total retirement income.

Tens of thousands of lecturers and other staff staged a mass walkout on Thursday in line with the call from the University and College Union (UCU), mounting pressure for Universities UK (UUK), which represents university employers.

“This is the third time the pension benefits have been reduced in about 6 or 7 years,” Paul Bagguley, a professor at the School of Sociology and Social Policy at Leeds University told CGTN’s The Point (@thepointwithlx). “Many people think that the pension fund has been mismanaged over a very long period of time.”

The pensions have been entirely exposed to the “performance” of the stock market, Bagguley noted.

UUK says the pension scheme is 6.1 billion British pounds (8.54 billion US dollars) in debt. The UCU insists that the existing scheme is performing well and UUK’s refusal to compromise has left them no alternative but to strike.

Bagguley dismissed the scheme as “private,” adding that the legal regulation for the pensions is “conservative” and not involving any financial advisors from lecturers’ union - the UCU.

UCU members claim that proposed changes will leave a typical lecturer almost 10,000 British pounds worse off each year in retirement.

Meanwhile, students are backing academics and demanding refunds for lost teaching.

At least 80,000 students have signed on petitions to support lecturers and ask for compensation as lectures and tutorials have been canceled due to the industrial action, according to BBC report.

Charlie Wolf, a US political commentator living in the UK, believed the strike action hurts students who cannot receive education for their dissertations and final exams.

“It is a shame all around,” Wolf said. “For people who are running funds… they’re getting heckles of the academics.”

The strike is scheduled to last for 14 days, spread over a month across the UK. The UK government is trying to bring the two sides back to the negotiating table.

The Point with Liu Xin is a 30-minute current affairs program on CGTN. It airs weekdays at 9.30 p.m. BJT (1330GMT), with rebroadcasts at 5.30 a.m. (2130GMT) and 10.30 a.m. (0230GMT).