Sheffield Students’ Union wins support on zero hours and sick pay

Hundreds of student workers, on precarious contracts, employed by Sheffield Students' Union have been calling on management to address its sick pay policy and the use of zero hours.

Covid-19 prompted the workers’ union, Unite to step up its call to management to introduce sick pay entitlements for casual staff in line with full time staff, and to end poor employment practices.

The board of trustees have now voted to support the union’s proposals which include minimum hours for current and future staff and full sick pay after 12 weeks service.

Unite regional officer Harriet Eisner said: “Unite is delighted that the management of the Students’ Union has agreed to improve the terms and conditions of their casual workers.

"Sheffield Students Union have done the right thing by leading the way for casual workers.

"Unite has always campaigned for better contracts for these workers and now they will have proper contracts throughout their employment and will be eligible for sick pay.

"These are important cornerstones of collective bargaining and important gains for our members.”Unite Sheffield Students union representative Lois McCallum said: “The trade union movement was new to me 18 months ago. I had never belonged to a union but together we have ensured that precarious workers at the Students Union now have secure employment and more rights."

Jordan Weir, Sheffield Students’ Union Development Officer 2020/21 said: “Sheffield Students' Union is proud that we have been able to complete our casual staff review and improve terms and conditions for our fantastic workers.

"I have previously been a casual staff member here at our Students’ Union and I was pleased to be directly involved in the project as a student officer.

"The contributions from our workforce during the consultation period were highly appreciated and we want to give our thanks to everyone who has been involved. We also welcome Unite’s contribution and pragmatic engagement throughout this process.”The workers are employed in the Sheffield Students’ Union’s bars, cafes, shops and night spots which serve over 29,000 students.

Sheffield Students' Union (Sheffield SU) gets significant funding from the University of Sheffield.

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