University and College Union strike ballot over Sheffield Hallam cuts

The University and College Union said financial cuts would see teaching, research and academic standards drop

University staff are to vote on possible strike action over what a union has called "scandalous" cuts.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) said university management had launched "a wholesale attack on staff and students".

The union said 225 academic jobs will be axed, with up to 80 staff facing compulsory redundancy.

Sheffield Hallam said it was "disappointed" with the decision.

The university said it had initially sent 120 redundancy letters in March, but said new roles had now been ring-fenced for people at risk.

SHU underwent a voluntary severance scheme last December under which 140 academic staff have left or are planning to leave.

The UCU's general secretary, Jo Grady, said: "Sheffield Hallam staff will be voting to take strike action because the cuts management is trying to force through are scandalous.

"They would see teaching, research and academic standards torn to shreds."

She said university management had also breached national frameworks and attacked working conditions.

'Reckless decisions'

The university said it was having to make "tough decisions" about how it operated due to "pressures largely out of our control, such as the decade-long flat UK undergraduate fee, rising pension costs and changes to visa rules that restrict international student recruitment".

A spokesperson said it was however "confident" it could keep compulsory redundancies "to a minimum".

Ms Grady said the university had made "reckless financial decisions" and taken on large debts due to plans for new buildings, alleging spending on building costs had "exceeded £200m in recent years"

"It is outrageous that rather than reviewing its spending on new buildings and a satellite campus halfway across the country, management would rather slash jobs, jeopardise academic standards, and tear up our hard-won terms and conditions."

SHU said spending on buildings was necessary for the university to remain "attractive", adding that a new London campus due to open in 2026 would "diversify income".

In a statement it said: "We are investing in our Sheffield campus estate to provide outstanding facilities for students and staff, to ensure that the University continues to be an attractive place to study and work.

"This will also deliver significant regeneration of a key gateway to the city centre and provide a new public green space for local people."

The ballot will run until 22 May.