Staff strike today at Sheffield University and Hallam University and ballot on more action

Workers at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University begin a five-day walkout today, with staff at both universities striking over deteriorating pay and working conditions. Staff at the University of Sheffield are also striking over a 35 per cent cut to guaranteed pension income.

And their union is currently balloting over whether to continue with strike action through 2022.

The ballots will run until Friday 8 April. Successful ballots will pave the way for action to continue to be called throughout the remainder of 2022.

The strike continues today as a survey shows most UK university staff are considering leaving the sector

In total staff at 67 universities across the UK are striking and unions say a report published today reveals that two thirds of UK university staff are considering leaving the sector

The University and College Union (UCU) has warned of a staff exodus from UK universities after two thirds of university staff said they are considering leaving the sector.

The finding comes from a new UCU report ‘UK Higher Education – a workforce in crisis’ based on a survey of 6,761 university staff at over 100 institutions.

NEWS: University strike – Picket lines at Sheffield University and Hallam University over pay and pensions

The survey found two thirds of respondents said they are likely or very likely to leave the university sector in the next five years over pension cuts, pay and working conditions.

It found 88 per cent of respondents said they are not optimistic or not at all optimistic about the future of higher education in the UK, and 57 per cent of respondents were unhappy or very unhappy about spending the remainder of their career in higher education

The union is currently balloting over whether to continue with strike action through 2022.

The ballots will run until Friday 8 April. Successful ballots pave the way for action to continue to be called throughout the remainder of 2022.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “University staff are striking over devastating pension cuts, falling pay and brutal working conditions. They have been pushed to breaking point again and again by vice-chancellors and are now saying that they are ready to leave the sector entirely. This is a damning indictment of the way staff have been treated.”

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