Sheffield Hallam University strike: What will be open as university lecturers plan strike days over pay row

Employees will be out on picket lines outside the Owen building on Monday (March 24) and Tuesday (March 25) as part of the dispute.

The union claims that managers have failed to implement the 2024/25 pay rise of 2.7 per cent from Thursday, August 1 2024, which they say is the equivalent to around £100 per month for the average lecturer once pension costs are factored in.

The UCU union says the university initially claimed it could not afford to implement the award, but did so this month, after UCU won its strike ballot. But the union says they have not been paid the rise from the seven months from last August.

Pay awards are negotiated nationally through collective agreements between employer body the Universities and Colleges Employers Association and UCU and other unions. Hallam is the only university in Yorkshire and Humber that refused to implement the award, it is claimed.

It comes at a time when Hallam is putting money into a satellite campus in London.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “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.”

Hallam says it is disappointed that the unions has voted to strike and says it will be to do everything possible to minimise the impact on its students and wider university community.

It said in a statement that it had to make difficult choices due to the financial challenges faced across higher education.

Hallam says the university, libraries, helpdesks and other student services will all remain open as normal. It is advising students to attend any scheduled sessions as normal unless they are informed otherwise.

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