UCU: Pension justice for low-paid workers

Motion

Motion text: Congress notes:
1. All eligible education staff, including fractional and hourly-paid workers, must
have equitable access to the TPS.
2. Employers often calculate the full-time equivalent (FTE) salary for hourlypaid staff to disadvantage them in pay and, thereby, in pension contributions
and benefits.
3. When UCU raised this with the Scheme Advisory Board, it was dismissed as a
terms-and-conditions matter, not a pension scheme issue.
4. Members on lower pay and on casualised contracts across FE and HE are
being pushed into inferior pension schemes, severely reducing retirement
security.
5. This disproportionately affects the Equality strands, who are more likely to
be casualised.
Congress agrees reducing contributions and access to TPS weakens the scheme
for everyone.
Congress resolves:
a. To undertake joint-union work to challenge employers on pension
inequality.
b. To campaign shaming employers using dishonest methods of calculating FTE
hourly pay for casualised staff.
c. To hold a UCU meeting for all TPS branches within 6 months.