University and college staff strike over pay and pensions (From The Argus)
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University and college staff strike over pay and pensions
7:40am Thursday 24th March 2011 in News
Teaching staff at colleges and universities across Sussex will be on strike today.
University of Brighton and University of Sussex staff will be among those taking part in University and College Union co-ordinated strikes over pension and pay cut issues.
Lecturers at Northbrook College in Worthing, Chichester College, the University of Chichester, City College Brighton and Hove, Central Sussex College and Sussex Downs College are also among the 500 colleges and universities taking part in today's action.
virtuoso says...
9:49am Thu 24 Mar 11
I do not feel sorry for the pensions position of lecturers. In fact, I am pretty envious.
The interests of academics and students do not coincide as it will be the students who will be paying for these underfunded public sector "gold plated" pension benefits by means of their future taxes.
For the source see: http://www.ucu.org.u
k/media/pdf/t/n/uss_
branchbriefing_mar11
.pdf
The only way that the arithmetic of very generous pensions entitlements such as these can be made to work, even on paper, is to assume a high level of future UK economic growth for decades to come. It’s not going to happen – not here and not anywhere else in the already developed World. Because of energy and other resources constraints and cheaper labour elsewhere, if we are clever and lucky, we will continue to go sideways, like Japan has for the past 25 years. What cannot happen won’t happen.