Sheffield Hallam University staff head out on strike over delayed pay rise
UCU members claim they are owed hundreds of pounds - after the university held back on a planned pay rise
Staff at Sheffield Hallam University have started two days of walkouts, over delays to a promised pay rise.
The UCU claims university bosses are holding back a 2.7% pay award for the last financial year, which would be equivalent to an extra £100 a month for the average lecturer.
Levels of pay are negotiated nationally between the Universities and Colleges Employers Association and unions.
Union activists were on the picket lines this morning (March 24) and will assemble against outside the Owen building tomorrow.
UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: ‘Our members are striking because Sheffield Hallam is acting like a rogue employer."
"By refusing to fully implement the nationally agreed pay award, Hallam bosses are effectively stealing tens of thousands of pounds from their workforce.
‘We refuse to accept that Hallam can invest hundreds of millions of pounds in shiny new buildings yet can’t afford to meet the nationally agreed pay award, as every other university in Yorkshire was able to.
"Management needs to think again, or it is laying the groundwork for further disruption.’
A Sheffield Hallam University spokesperson said: “We are disappointed that UCU has voted to take strike action, although our priority during any industrial action will be to do everything possible to minimise the impact on our students and wider university community.
“Like all universities, we have had to make tough decisions due to the well-documented financial challenges being faced across the higher education sector. One of those was to implement the annual nationally negotiated pay award for staff later than in previous years, in order to significantly reduce costs and protect jobs.
“With the overall financial picture for universities likely to be challenging for some time, we must continue to make the difficult choices required to reduce costs and increase income, in order to emerge in a stronger, sustainable position for the future.”
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