Strike ballot opens to university staff over cuts

Staff at the University of Sheffield will vote whether to strike over potential job cuts

Staff at the University of Sheffield are being balloted for strike action over potential job cuts, the University and College Union (UCU) has announced.

The union said the ballot was in response to management plans to put staff in five academic areas at risk of redundancy, as well as a "continued risk of redundancy" to professional services staff across the university.

The number of jobs that could be lost has not been confirmed, but UCU claimed the university wanted to save "at least £5m by slashing staff".

The University of Sheffield said it stood by its "commitment to make no compulsory redundancies in this calendar year".

According to the union, the university has announced reviews of academic staffing in chemistry, civil engineering, the management school, materials science and engineering, and the school of East Asian studies.

Sheffield UCU branch president David Hayes said: "The University of Sheffield continues to pursue a campaign of disruptive and damaging changes in the name of fiscal prudence.

"Staff have already had to endure seven years of relentless top-down change from management - it's time for a rethink."

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: "We will not accept threats to the jobs of our members, and neither will we accept the slow degradation of our members' working conditions through stress and ever-increasing workload pressures."

A spokesperson for the university said: "Following the negotiations held with UCU earlier this year, we stand by our commitment to make no compulsory redundancies in this calendar year.

"We are also continuing to work with the UCU and other trade unions to avoid them wherever possible in the future."

They added: "We continue to take a considered and strategic approach to the current challenges facing the higher education sector, including a reduction in income from international students, in order to safeguard our world-class teaching and research."

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