The University has clarified its position on industrial action planned by the UCU in relation to forthcoming proposals for changes to the USS pension scheme.
The UCU is planning continuous action short of a strike in the form of an assessment and marking boycott starting on Thursday, 6 November 2014.
The University has confirmed that staff taking part in the action will be in breach of contract as it does not accept the partial performance of any staff contract.
Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Howard Newby, said: “The UCU’s planned action goes to the heart of the academic role and staff involved will therefore not be delivering partial performance as implied by action short of a strike. The action affects the very basis of the contract of employment, including fundamental duties of the role – particularly for academic staff involved in teaching.”
Staff taking part in the action by refusing to carry out duties associated with assessment will not be entitled to their contractual pay from the date they start to participate. The University intends to withhold 100% of pay at a daily rate of 1/261 of annual salary for any members of staff taking part in the industrial action.
The action is being called by the UCU in response to the employers’ proposals for changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS).
The Vice-Chancellor added: “It is important that our pension scheme remains sustainable and affordable for both universities and employees going forward. We consider the UCU action to be premature as discussions in the USS Joint Negotiating Committee (JNC) are still ongoing.”
Further information can be found here: https://www.liv.ac.uk/intranet/uss/