Southampton Solent staff vote to strike over pensions dispute

University and College Union (UCU) members at Southampton Solent University have voted to pursue strike action after the institution moved professional services staff to a subsidiary firm with a different pension scheme.  

Some 93 per cent of participating staff backed strike action, on a turnout of 72 per cent, paving the way for disruption in the new year. 

Staff at the university claim to be victims of “fire and rehire” practices after they were told in October that employees who are currently on the Local Government Pension Scheme – the standard pension scheme for professional services staff – would be moved on to a subsidiary firm and on to what the union has described as a “second-rate” pension.

A Southampton Solent University spokesperson said the institution “is exploring a range of options to strengthen our ongoing financial sustainability, ensuring the university continues to support our students in their education journey”.

They said the decision to transfer some staff to a different pension plan “was not taken lightly, with staff feedback taken into consideration throughout the consultation”.

“However, it was decided that the potential savings, reduction of long-term risk and alignment of our workforce were significant enough that the transfer was necessary.”

UCU said the university moved 286 staff on to its subsidiary company, Solent University Services Ltd (SUSL), on 11 December.

The union claimed that university management had told employees on 10 December to email HR by the end of the day if they “objected to the transfer”, which would see their employment cease immediately.

UCU claims that the university is exploring plans to move academic staff, currently on the Teachers’ Pension Scheme, on to SUSL. The university denies this.

Stephen Desmond, the university’s UCU branch president, said the ballot result showed “how enraged staff are at management’s decision to force colleagues out of their preferred pension scheme”. 

“The vice-chancellor must now see sense, start respecting his staff, and begin working with UCU to protect pensions. If he refuses to do so, he is laying the ground for huge disruption in the new year,” he said.

A growing number of post-92 universities have been accused of moving staff on to subsidiary firms in a bid to lower their pension contributions, including Coventry University and the University of Portsmouth.

Jo Grady, UCU’s general secretary, added: “Management’s demand that any staff who wish to remain in the local government pension scheme should email HR so they can then be summarily sacked without notice shows its deep lack of respect for its employees.  

“Our members have the full weight of the national union behind them in their fight to defend their retirement, and we urge management to do the right thing and change course.”

The UCU branch at the University of Essex has also opened an industrial action ballot over plans to close its Southend campus and cut 400 academic and professional services staff.

Grady described the cuts as “academic vandalism”. 

“It is cruel that Essex University has chosen to ruin Christmas for thousands of staff by putting them all at risk of redundancy as they break up for the holidays,” she said.

The University of Essex has been approached for comment.