Series of education strikes in UK universities
From 2018 to 2023, the UK university sector faced an industrial dispute between staff, represented most often by the University and College Union (UCU), and their employers, represented by Universities UK (UUK) and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA). The dispute was initially over proposed changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), a pension scheme. The changes would have seen a significant drop in worker compensation, and in response the sector experienced industrial action on a scale not before seen. Pay equality, workload, casualisation, and pay levels (dubbed the "Four Fights") were added to the dispute in 2019. Action was curtailed by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom, but resumed in 2021. By March 2023 a resolution had been reached on the USS, which returned to 2017 terms in a victory for the UCU. The UCU was however not successful on The Four Fights, as a November 2023 ballot for extending action failed on turnout. Many universities faced mass redundancies in 2024 amid declining funding.
The dispute was the longest in UK higher-education history, involving 42,000 staff and affecting over one million students. It has been characterised as a "milestone" for "impending service sector strikes of the 21st century." It pre-dated but ran concurrently with a wave of industrial action nationwide in response to the cost of living crisis.
Background to the strikes.
The United Kingdom has 130 universities. Staff at 68 universities founded before 1992 are members of the USS pension scheme and were involved in disputes about that scheme. (Most academic staff at institutions which became universities "after" 1992 are members of the Teachers' Pension Scheme, which is unaffected by the USS dispute.) Staff at all universities were involved in disputes about pay and conditions of employment.
As reporting noted, the strikes took place in the context of wider tensions over higher education and pension provision in the UK.
Pensions.
The USS pension scheme.
The Universities Superannuation Scheme was created in 1974 to provide sector-wide pensions for UK university staff (focusing on academic staff). Its terms changed little until 2011, when major reforms were implemented, followed by further changes in 2014–15. These left scheme members markedly worse off: one academic study concluded that the reduced wealth of post-2011 entrants was equivalent to an 11% drop in their total compensation or a 13% drop in their salaries.
By 2017, the USS scheme had over 400,000 members.
2018 USS pension negotiations, and associated strike action.
Prior to industrial action.
In July 2017, USS reported a technical deficit (i.e. a gap between the fund's assets and its liabilities) of £17.5 billion, reported as the largest such shortfall in the UK at that time. USS's deficit evaluation was based on suggestions that although the fund's assets had grown (reaching £60 billion, a one-fifth increase on the previous year), its liabilities had also grown (reaching £78 billion, a one-third increase over the previous year). Following negotiations regarding the calculation of the deficit, the USS Joint Negotiating Committee accepted a technical deficit of £6.1 billion in November 2017.
The key change proposed by UUK was to close USS's defined benefit scheme (possibly temporarily), replacing it with a defined contribution scheme.
Specifically, the USS Joint Negotiating Committee therefore made the following proposals, to be introduced after 1 April 2019:
The closure of defined benefits was presented as a red line by UCU, which argued in favour of finding ways to sustain defined benefits, or to introduce a collective defined contribution scheme (the primary legislation for which was introduced in the UK in 2015, but which had not as of March 2018 been advanced to secondary legislation).
Arguments for the changes.
USS argued that market conditions had simply proven less favourable than previous valuations had assumed, with the chief executive, Bill Galvin, arguing that 'the unavoidable fact is that market conditions have changed since 2014. Real interest rates have fallen since 2014, relative to inflation, and asset prices have soared ... We are now having to pay more – to get less in return – than we expected in the past'. Moreover, USS emphasised that its room for manoeuvre was constrained by the Pensions Regulator.
In theory, the deficit could have been resolved through higher contribution rates. However, UUK argued that defined benefit schemes were becoming prohibitively expensive. They said they had a legal duty to put in place a credible plan to reduce the deficit by the summer of 2018. Otherwise, pension contributions from employers and staff would have to sharply increase, potentially resulting in redundancies and cuts to other areas of teaching, research and student support. UUK stated the defined contributions proposal would compare well with private-sector competitors, with employer contributions double the private sector average.
USS had a legal responsibility to satisfy the UK pensions regulator that the scheme was sound, and the regulator was requiring change.
Arguments against the changes.
UCU stated that UUK's proposal would "leave a typical lecturer almost £10,000 a year worse off in retirement than under the current set-up", with younger staff the worst affected, with some losing up to half their anticipated pensions.
Critics of the changes offered the following main arguments against implementing the changes to the scheme promoted by UUK.
UCU ballots for industrial action (29 January 2018).
On 29 January, UCU announced that 88% of UCU members had voted to back strike action and 93% backed action short of a strike. The turnout was 58%, meeting the 50% minimum set by the Trade Union Act 2016.
Shortly after, on 13 February, the trade union UNISON, many of whose members in the Higher Education sector were also USS members, began a consultative ballot on striking alongside UCU. On 20 February, UNISON wrote to vice-chancellors in support of UCU's position.
Strike action commences (23 February 2018) and new negotiations follow.
Strikes commenced on 23 February, coinciding with an exceptional level of snow and ice from the 2018 British Isles cold wave which added further disruption to education. With the commencement of strikes, UUK agreed to meet UCU for further negotiations on 27 February. Leaked emails suggested they would not negotiate on UCU's key issue, retaining defined benefits. The meeting led to an agreement to undergo conciliation through Acas, the UK's national industrial dispute conciliation body. UCU tabled and published a set of proposals which it argued was consistent with the majority of UUK members' positions in USS's earlier consultation, but strikes were not called off.
A spokesperson for Universities UK said: "Both sides are currently engaged in serious and constructive talks at Acas. We are committed to seeking a viable, affordable and mutually acceptable solution to the current challenges facing USS pensions."
UCU's proposal (27 February 2018).
UCU tabled an alternative proposal at the first round of talks with UUK which UCU stated would involve universities accepting some increased risk and small increased contributions from employers and scheme members. UUK's response was that they would need time to cost the union's proposal which it feared would require "very substantial increases in contributions". However, some vice-chancellors voiced support for UCU's plan.
UCU's proposal, along with suggestions for longer-term strategies, was:
The parties held inconclusive talks on 5 March, scheduling the next talks for 7 March. However, a bizarre Twitter spasm from UUK on the night of 5 March insisted that the group was available for talks on 6 March, and this led to talks at noon on 6 March. Talks continued on 7 March, inconclusively. On 8 March, UCU's Higher Education Committee agreed that it would call further strikes if necessary after the Easter vacation, between April and June.
Joint UUK and UCU proposal (12 March 2018).
On the evening of Monday 12 March UCU and UUK issued a joint agreement, arrived at through ACAS, to be put to their respective members.
The agreement was specifically for a three-year "transitional benefit arrangement" lasting from 1 April 2019, maintaining defined benefits up to a salary threshold of £42,000, reducing the accrual rate to 1/85, but raising contributions to 19.3% of salaries for employers and 8.7% for members. The next valuation was to be informed by an "independent expert group", 'aiming to promote greater transparency and understanding' of the methodologies, assumptions, and viability of the scheme. Indexation and revaluation was to be measured using CPI and capped at up to 2.5% p.a. (meaning that if inflation, measured by CPI, rose above 2.5%, the pension would lose value in real terms). UCU was to suspend industrial action and "encourage" branches to reschedule any classes disrupted by the strike. The agreement stated that "there is commitment between both sides to engage in meaningful discussions as soon as possible to explore risk sharing alternatives for the future from 2020, in particular Collective Defined Contributions".
Vice-chancellors were to inform UUK whether they would back this deal by the end of day on Wednesday 14 March while UCU representatives consulted with their members on whether to reject the deal or not the next day.
Acas agreement withdrawn by UCU (13 March 2018).
Local branch meetings were held on Tuesday 13 March to consider the ACAS agreement. These meetings informed a meeting of elected and branch representatives the same day. This agreement was rejected by UCU's membership on the grounds that it failed to address members' concerns. Many UCU members used the Twitter hashtag #NoCapitulation to express their disapproval of the agreement, helping to co-ordinate a strong response to the proposals.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said that preparations for strikes during the exam period would be made, while urgently seeking further talks.
A UUK spokesperson said: It is hugely disappointing that students' education will be further disrupted through continued strike action. We have engaged extensively with UCU negotiators to find a mutually acceptable way forward.
In some places, the decision was followed the next day by rallies.
Developments 14–23 March 2018.
As of 14 March, UUK's consultation with its members remained ongoing.
A statutory 64-day consultation by USS on pension changes had been due to commence on 19 March, but as of 15 March, USS were declaring an unspecified delay to the commencement of consultations.
On 16 March, UCU called on members employed as external examiners to resign until the dispute was resolved. By 23 March over 600 resignations had occurred.
On 18 March, UUK announced that it would convene an "independent panel", featuring an independent chair and involving academics and pension professionals, to "consider issues of methodology, assumptions and monitoring, aiming to promote greater transparency and understanding of the USS valuation". The panel would invite UCU "to play a full role in providing evidence to the panel" and would also liaise with USS and the pensions regulator. UCU's response was that "UCU will of course look at any proposals UUK makes but our members have made it quite clear that what is needed is a much improved offer".
On 22 March, UCU sanctioned fourteen further strike days to fall in the April to June 2018 exam period should the talks fail to come to a resolution.
On 23 March, UNISON announced that its consultative ballot of its USS members had returned 91% support for industrial action, and that it would begin a formal ballot for strike action in April.
UUK makes a new offer (23 March 2018).
On 23 March, UCU announced a new offer from UUK. This proposed the creation of a formal "Joint Expert Panel" to reconsider how valuations should be undertaken, leaving open the possibility of maintaining the status quo not only for the statutory period up to April 2019, but possibly beyond. The panel would
take into account the unique nature of the HE sector, inter-generational fairness and equality considerations, the need to strike a fair balance between ensuring stability and risk. Recognising that staff highly value Defined Benefit provision, the work of the group will reflect the clear wish of staff to have a guaranteed pension comparable with current provision whilst meeting the affordability challenges for all parties, within the current regulatory framework.
The "Financial Times" noted that this would be "a far more comprehensive review of the current structure and valuation of the Universities Superannuation Scheme" than previously considered, but also noted that "the new agreement avoids any mention of increases in contributions by either employers or employees to plug the hole in the scheme". UCU was due to consult members' representatives at a formal meeting on 28 March.
Meanwhile, on 26 March, the UK's Joint Negotiating Committee for Higher Education Staff began its round of negotiations for pay in the sector for 2018/19, with unions demanding a large pay