The recognised trade union for academic and related staff

The recognised trade union for academic and related staff

This week’s update

Following two well attended and constructive General Meetings, Sheffield UCU members have voted in favour for an industrial action strategy targeting the last three weeks of term.

This will consist of:

  • One day of strike action on Wednesday 30th April
  • Action Short of Strike from Thursday 1st May onwards (not 28th April as previously stated)
  • Followed by a 9 day walk out from Tuesday the 6th May until Friday the 16th May, should the University fail to meaningfully commit to addressing our demands

Our regional office has now notified the University of our action.

On 16 April, we are meeting with management in a negotiation over our current dispute. Our dispute demands ask management to avoid compulsory redundancies by working with staff in scope and TU reps to re-design the current restructure proposals to preserve all jobs, and to make this same commitment to avoid compulsory redundancies as a result of change management for any process that is launched between now and the end of the 25-26 academic year.

Asking management to not make staff redundant is a reasonable request to make at any time, but especially during the current period of such disruptive change. The extensive changes to structure that management are making will create substantial upset to working practices across the entire university, and will take time to settle. We are asking management to approach this change responsibly and take this time.

Moreover, we believe that the university is taking a particularly conservative approach to its financial risk, and that there is not a strong financial argument behind pursuing these compulsory redundancies. Management have indicated that the potential savings from redundancy in the current structures is relatively limited. We are also aware that, via Voluntary Severance and ‘vacancy management’, the university has already reached a level of future year-on-year savings which nearly meets its stated target of £23m. As a union, we do not wish to see the university reduce staffing levels because of the workload implications, but we would far rather see staff leaving voluntarily than to be forced out of their livelihoods.

Lastly, we have asked management to commit to reducing their own pay and forgoing bonuses until the university is back in surplus. To the extent that it is truly necessary to reduce staffing costs at this university as opposed to reducing other costs, then true leadership would be to reduce costs at the top before threatening any staff jobs. We have also asked management to temporarily suspend leadership uplifts until the university has returned to surplus. These measures alone are equivalent to between 52-62 jobs at Grade 6.

We will report the outcome of next week’s negotiation to members, but to provide maximum support for the negotiation, we need members to prepare to take impactful strike action. As a first step, we are asking members to please hang the attached poster in your workplaces.

We will be updating our industrial action resources over the next couple of weeks. Our page on the practicalities of strike action may be helpful.

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Sheffield University and College Union is the only body recognised by the University to represent, and negotiate on behalf of academic, academic-related and research staff. The SUCU Committee consists of volunteer members of staff whose work (on the membership’s behalf) includes: negotiating terms and conditions with the University, advising and assisting members regarding work related issues, campaigning, and providing information on issues relevant to trades unions.

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