Sheffield Hallam University staff protest over delayed pay rise

In September the university said they would defer giving staff a pay rise July 2025 and not backdate it.

UNISON, the trade union, said this is wage theft. 

Dan Grace, communications officer for Sheffield Hallam UNISON, said: “We are here today with our members, GMB, UCU and Unite to tell the university that we’re not happy with their decision to defer the latest pay award and then not backdate that payment. We would like that pay award to be implemented as soon as possible and backdated 11 months as it has been in every previous year. 

“Our second demand is for a union voice in the setting of the university’s budgets. There have been some poor decisions made at Sheffield Hallam recently and we feel we closer union involvement we might have been able to avoid some of that. What we really want to do is get Hallam back on track and help sort things out a bit. 

“We chose to come out and protest today, while graduations are happening, because we want to be visible. We want members of the public and people using the university to see us so we can explain to them the situation and make a case for ensuring our members get the pay award they deserve.”

A facilities staff member who wished to remain anonymous said: “We are protesting the university not replacing staff who leave. While I hope our demands will be met I doubt we will be listened to. We are still not getting a pay rise which is a bitter pill to swallow.”

This comes as earlier this year the university said up to 400 jobs could be lost as external pressures, such as the government's plans to reduce the number of international students in the UK, had led to "tough decisions".

Sheffield Hallam employs around 4,500 staff and said it would do "everything possible" to avoid compulsory redundancies.