New staff members at the University of Portsmouth will be prevented from accessing the Teachers’ Pension Scheme (TPS) in what the University and College Union (UCU) has called a plan to create a “two-tier” workforce.
The university wants to employ all new staff through a wholly owned subsidiary company from 1 August and enrol them on an internal defined contribution scheme instead of the TPS or Local Government Pension Scheme.
UCU described the alternative scheme as “drastically inferior” to the TPS and said it will enter a trade dispute over the issue, with a potential strike ballot to follow.
Management at the university have justified the move by claiming current pension costs are “not affordable” after steep hikes in employer contributions for the TPS.
Earlier this year, the then Conservative government upped employer contributions to the scheme, which applies to all post 1992 universities, by 5 percentage points, which saw it rise from from 23.68 per cent in England and Wales, to 28.68 per cent.
Jo Grady, general secretary of the UCU, said staff members have the union’s “full backing” in any industrial action they chose to take.
Dr Grady said: “Portsmouth management is trying to tear up nationally agreed terms and conditions in its attempts to create a two-tier workforce. Pensions are deferred pay and it is completely unacceptable for the university to try to leave industry standard schemes by the backdoor.”
While universities have had to pay for the rise in contributions themselves, the government provided additional funding to schools and colleges to help them cover the increase.
The Universities and Colleges Employers' Association and Universities UK previously wrote to the government to provide “greater flexibility” to affected universities, highlighting that 46 per cent of post-92 institutions have already had to make redundancies since August 2023, and that the increase in contributions was placing greater pressure on already-stretched budgets.
Dr Grady added: “We have a new government that has said fixing the higher education funding crisis is a day one priority. To avoid a race to the bottom in terms and conditions, Labour now needs to match the support given to schools and colleges and fund the increase in employer TPS contributions.”
The University of Portsmouth was contacted for comment.
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