The University of Sunderland has started hiring academic tutors through a wholly owned subsidiary, meaning they have no access to the Teachers' Pension Scheme. The University and College Union said the move creates a two-tier workforce. 

The university, which needs to make savings, will reduce its costs by £36,000 at most through this move, according to UCU. 

UCU has been campaigning against post-92 universities employing staff through subsidiaries to lower their pension costs, including through strikes and writing to ministers. 

"University of Sunderland management's shameful decision to use a sham company to deny workers access to TPS is a moral stain on higher education," said UCU general secretary Jo Grady. 

"Academic tutors are among the university's lowest earners and are the most likely to have regular concerns about their job security. This change will do nothing to alter that and will instead create a two-tier workforce and exacerbate low morale," she added. 

The union stressed that the changes were made just weeks after the government confirmed a higher SCAPE discount rate of CPI+2%, claiming that this will save Sunderland University more than £3m a year from next April. In June, Sheffield Hallam University reversed plans to make pension changes in light of the new rate. 

"Now the cost of TPS has fallen so dramatically, this pension attack seems designed to cause uproar among the staff body. Our members have voted to defend the scheme for both current and future staff, and it is scandalous the university executive has ignored their voices," Grady said. 

A spokesperson for the University of Sunderland emphasised that existing academic tutors will keep their current terms and said staff employed through its existing subsidiary have access to “a competitive and flexible” pension scheme.  

  

"Like universities across the UK, we continue to face significant financial pressures and have a responsibility to ensure that our resources are directed towards delivering high-quality education and support for students. The decision follows careful consideration of our long-term financial sustainability and workforce requirements,” the spokesperson added. "We remain committed to constructive engagement with our recognised trade unions and to supporting all colleagues who contribute to the University's success."

In May, the Education Committee published a report about university insolvencies and international students. On pensions, it recommended among others that "the government could prohibit the creation of wholly owned subsidiaries which are being used to avoid the requirement for TPS membership".