“Myriad trans-Atlantic labor connections spring to mind
for us as Latin Americanists participating in the largest strike in the history
of Britain’s higher education sector. The fracas began in late February and
will involve at least 14 days of strike action over four weeks at 61
universities across the country. Our battle is over pensions in the first
place, but it also concerns the future of public higher education, the labor
movement, and the wider struggle against austerity in the country.
“‘The university pensions dispute,’ University of London
Professor Brendan McGeever pointed out, ‘has
underscored the transformative capacity of strike action…At ‘teach outs’ and
picket lines across the country, the question of pensions is being located in a
much wider conversation about the nature of the university and the
marketization of higher education,’ he said. The strike ‘has revealed itself to
have the capacity to enlarge collectivism and deepen critical thinking.’
“…The commodities boom, which had financed much of the
social spending and progressive policies of Pink Tide governments across Latin
America over the previous decade, unleashed a crisis of legitimacy for many
Left and center-Left governments in the region when crisis struck. Rather than
shift the costs of collapsing state revenues into capital through more
aggressive taxation or appropriation, Pink Tide governments, in an ill-fated
attempt to remain ‘credible’ to large private investors, instead adopted
austerity measures that hit the poor and working classes hardest. And as they
alienated erstwhile supporters, capital returned to its traditional political home
in center-Right or hard-Right political configurations, emboldening
conservatives to retake power through the ballot box in Argentina, Peru, and
Chile and through thinly veiled coups in Paraguay, Brazil, and Honduras.
“…At the heart of ongoing strikes in the U.K. are proposed changes
to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS), one of Europe’s largest
collectivized pension funds. Last year, a review of the fund by USS trustees
ostensibly revealed a £7.5 billion
($10.4 billion USD) deficit. To ensure the fund’s viability, trustees
determined that an increase in combined contributions by employers and
employees from 26% to 37.4% of income was required. In response, Universities
UK (UUK), which organizes groups of higher education employers, proposed to
effectively eliminate guaranteed pensions by directing all contributions to the
stock market, passing on risk from employers to employees. According to an
independent estimate commissioned by the University and College Union (UCU),
which represents university faculty and staff, the proposed changes would slash
the pension of a typical faculty member by over £200,000 ($275,000 USD).
“…Gauging from the first two weeks of strikes, this is a different
fight from prior experiences. Three earlier pension-related strikes by the
University and College Union (UCU) over the past decade had uneven support,
gained little momentum, and ended with union leaders caving to employers’
demands. But this is a new moment. Nationwide turnout is
massive; students and staff have joined pickets in large numbers, organized
petitions, and written letters to university councils, local politicians, and
university presidents. And unlike previous moments, this time UCU leadership
has continued to support strike actions even as negotiations are underway,
understanding them to be critical leverage to achieve a just deal…”
For the complete article, From the United
Kingdom to Latin America, Striking for Pensions in the Age of Austerity, click here.
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