PensionsMar 17 2022

Teachers accept GDST pensions offer

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Teachers accept GDST pensions offer
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The decision to strike — the first such walkout in the trust’s 149-year history — was made last November when teachers voted to take industrial action over the trust’s plans to exit the Teachers’ Pension Scheme.

It put the proposals to consultation in September, citing a 43 per cent hike in contributions since 2019 as having made continued membership of the scheme unaffordable.

Around 300 independent schools have left the scheme or have plans to do so due to the rising costs of membership.

The GDST’s proposed alternative would have seen teachers placed into a new scheme with a 20 per cent employer contribution rate, and given a host of benefits including a pay rise, though the trust did not disclose the details of this offer. 

This was rejected, and GDST teachers walked out in February. The trust updated its offer to allow teachers to remain in TPS until September 2023, but this was not enough to call off the strikes.

The GDST updated its offer again, offering teachers a choice between remaining in the TPS under “favourable conditions”, or joining a new GDST pension scheme, which the NEU rejected on the grounds that the offer had “unknown strings attached”.

Further strikes were suspended in early March, however, to allow for talks mediated by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service, and these have been successful, with teachers voting in favour of an updated offer from the GDST allowing them to remain in the TPS in perpetuity, though the NEU refused to endorse the deal because the trust still plans to close the scheme to new members.

The final offer

The final deal offered by the GDST contained two options.

Under the first, staff would remain in the TPS “at the relevant contribution rate”, currently 23.68 per cent. They would also receive a guaranteed pay rise of 3.5 per cent in September 2022 irrespective of pay band upper limits, a further 2 per cent rise in September 2023, rising to a minimum of 3.5 per cent if employer contribution rates remain the same.

The GDST sought to counter concerns about a so-called “fire and rehire” policy by stating explicitly that teachers would not have to sign a new contract to benefit from this offer.

The second option is for teachers to choose to join the new Flexible Pension Plan by September 2023, remaining in the TPS until that date should they wish to do so. They would receive a 7.5 per cent pay rise in September 2022, and a minimum 3.5 per cent rise in September 2023.

They would also receive a one-off payment of £2,000, and the trust promised that the Flexible Pension Plan would be “family friendly”, the employer continuing to pay contributions for periods of unpaid parental, maternity and adoption leave.

The trust also promised that teachers who have been striking, and who have children in trust schools, “will not be penalised with the removal of their fee remission”.

However, new teachers joining from September 2022 will only be able to join the Flexible Pension Plan. While staff voted in favour of the deal, the NEU was unable to endorse it on these grounds, calling the plan a “significant concern”.

An NEU spokesperson told FTAdviser's sister publication Pensions Expert: “The outcome of the dispute means that all existing GDST teachers can stay in the TPS and get a pay rise this September, and that the threat of fire and rehire has been removed.

“However, NEU members at the schools in the trust are not happy about the way their employer has behaved. A major concern, and an important principle, is that GDST teachers — over 75 per cent GDST teachers are NEU members — strongly believe that all new starters should be able to join the TPS,” they said.

“GDST teachers do not believe that there is any financial imperative to close the scheme to future teachers and the decision is short term, borne of opportunity, not necessity.”

The decision to close the scheme to new members crossed a “red line” for the union, they continued, and was “the principal reason why we were unable to reach a negotiated settlement, and why the NEU could not endorse the offer”.

“GDST teachers do not want a divided teaching staff. They are concerned that the proposal will adversely affect recruitment to the GDST and the success of the schools in the future. They are unhappy that the trust is incentivising leaving the TPS by offering a lump sum payment and enhanced pay award,” the NEU spokesperson said.

“NEU have asked repeatedly that the TPS remains an option for future teachers. We will continue to do so.”

GDST chief executive Cheryl Giovannoni said: “We are pleased that, with the feedback from our teachers and their recognised trade union, the NEU, we have reached a position which teachers have accepted and that gives them a choice on how they wish to receive their total reward, depending on their personal circumstances.

“Importantly, these proposals are equally conducive to the long-term sustainability of the GDST and our charitable purpose of reaching as many girls as possible, across our family of schools.

“As we said at the start of the collective consultation, the GDST has always been committed to a full and robust consultation and we have revised our original proposals significantly. While these negotiations have not been easy for anyone in our schools, we have together found a way forward with our teachers that means we can address the challenging financial situation that we, along with many other independent schools across the sector, are facing.”

Giovannoni continued: “We are proud to have put forward an offer that is both forward-thinking and sector-defining in its design, since many independent schools have required teachers to take a pay cut to allow them to remain in the TPS.

“We are also committed to working with our heads, teachers and support staff to restore the spirit that is unique to the GDST community as we move forward together.”

Benjamin Mercer is a senior reporter at FTAdviser's sister publication Pensions Expert