We’re at Breaking Point during ‘feel good February’ – support the Four Fights strikes

If you care about USS pensions, you need to support the Four Fights campaign, because:

– casualisation means many members of staff do not earn enough to qualify for a pension, or don’t think it is worth paying into because they are only employed on brief contracts, but if we successfully win the campaign on casualisation, more members will join USS, and the pension fund will be bigger and stronger

– the pay inequalities that affect women, disabled staff and black staff mean that these groups earn less money, and therefore pay less into the pension scheme, but if we successfully win the campaign on equal pay, they will earn more, and the pension fund will be bigger and stronger

– escalating workloads mean that most staff are doing more than a fair day’s work for the pay we recieve, but if we successfully win the campaign on workloads, the universities will have to recruit more staff to do the same amount of work, and that means more people will join the pension fund, and it will be bigger and stronger

– our pay has not kept up with inflation, and we now earn 20% less than we did a decade ago in real terms, but if we successfully win the campaign on pay, we will all earn more money, and all pay more into our pensions, and the pension fund will be bigger and stronger

We treat the USS pensions and Four Fights campaigns as separate disputes, but in fact the issues are inextricably linked, and we need to win both battles if we are to achieve job security, fair pay, reasonable workloads, a pay rise, and a pension worth having.