Strike action has been forced by the employers in the sector who continually refuse to enter negotiations with UCU without a mandate for action. This is in spite of the fact that the demands which make up the Four Fights dispute are reasonable, fair, and affordable. Here at Sheffield Hallam, management continue to make decisions without consultation or consideration of staff, and we must be prepared to take action to prevent the further erosion of our terms and conditions.

The full list of ballot results from November, 21 is here. 

The next ballot opens 6th March and closes Friday 8th April.  Last day for posting Wednesday 6th April, ’22.

Last time local strike action was effective, by taking action members like yourself helped to win increases in workload allowances (including General Academic Duties, Marking and Assessment, and the reinstatement of certain roles against 462). It is true that the national action ended unsatisfactorily, but this was due to the Covid lockdown making further strike action impossible.

Further details about the aims of the Four Fights action can be found here:

Four Fights explainer

This is a scare tactic to prevent you fighting for fair conditions. The National Union of Students have already said they support the UCU taking action. Remember that it is YOU who contributes to the student experience, not university management. Students demonstrate solidarity with their lecturers and support staff, not university management. You can help strengthen that solidarity by communicating the unfair conditions in higher education to your students and reminding them that the blame for strike action lies entirely with the employer.

Sector leaders recognise the key role that universities have to play in the post-pandemic economic recovery. The employer cannot emphasise the central role of universities whilst simultaneously ignoring the harm caused to lecturers by their workplace policies. (In the 2020 Staff Pulse survey, academic staff gave an average score of 5.8 out of 10 in response to the question ‘I am maintaining a healthy work-life balance’.) The ‘Four Fights’ dispute is about challenging the unfair conditions and precarious labour the HE sector is built on.

Sheffield Hallam reported a £13million surplus at the end of the 2020/21 financial year. They do have the money.

The rising cost of living is a real worry for us all. Since 2009 one below inflation pay rise after another have eroded staff pay by 17.6%. Enough is enough! The recent £250 ‘one-off’ payment offer to staff was framed around ‘rising energy costs and fuel bills’ by the VC. A recognition of the real term pay cuts at SHU and across the sector.

Remember, pay during a strike is now deducted on the basis of 1/365 per day. But there is also help from the union. The national UCU Fighting Fund exists to support those members for whom strike action might cause particular financial difficulties. Payments are typically available from the 4th day of strike action onwards and are currently set at £50 per day for those earning above £30k per year, and £75 per day for those on under £30k per year. In addition, Sheffield Hallam UCU maintains a small local strike fund (payments from which are prioritised for SHU’s many precariously employed academic staff)

Remember that the fight to increase the pay offer will impact all staff at the University, including our support staff. We have academic colleagues who are still being held in insecure and exploitative hourly-paid roles (there is currently no conversion policy for ALs to apply for permanent roles at Sheffield Hallam). The use of ALs is increasing and there is evidence that managers are failing to uphold the few employment rights these staff have (https://lowpaysheffield.com/the-view-from-a-northern-heartland-[SCREEN].pdf – see page 53). It’s so important that we demonstrate the strength and solidarity of our union and reject exploitative and harmful employment conditions.

Strike action means not doing any work for all of the days specified by the union (Wednesday 1^st December, Tuesday 2^nd December and Wednesday 3^rd December). This includes, for instance, time before 9am and after 5pm and includes any activity which is part of your work such as teaching, administration, meetings, emails relating to work, marking, completing registers, research or conferences where you are directly or indirectly representing your employer. It also means not doing any preparation for work that you are due to do when you return to work after your strike. In a nutshell, if you are employed at one of the institution on strike don’t do any work at all on strike days!
If you are not yet a member, join UCU, so that you have protection of a trade union before you take part in industrial action.  

You can join UCU at any point up to and including on the picktet line on the day of the action and lawfully participate in the strike action.

If you are not yet a member….Join online here!

Alongside the withdrawal of your labour, your local rep will contact members requesting that members volunteer to attend pickets, so look out for that. Having people on the picket is a really important way of communicating the messages of the industrial action to staff and students. This is essential to counteract the divisive messages from the employer which tend to characterise striking staff as a small group of agitators.  You will see colleagues handing out leaflets, holding banners, and chatting with members of the university community. If you’re more comfortable just turning up and standing with colleagues, that’s great too. Remember, the longer the picket line, the shorter the strike!  For guidance and information about picketing please see UCU picketing guidance

No, leaving work for students or providing them with work completion instructions will undermine the impact of the strike, this includes posting materials to Blackboard. If you’re being pressured to do this by a manager, contact your local rep.

I am a member of UCU and will be on strike Monday 28th March, ’22 to Friday 1st April, ’22 inclusive.  I will not be responding to e mails sent on these dates so if you require a response, please resend your e mail on a non-strike day.

If you are a student, the University should contact you in terms of how the industrial action may impact on you.

UCU is in dispute with employers over 4 issues explained here UCU_Four-Fights-Explainer:  https://www.ucu.org.uk/media/10715/Our-four-fights/pdf/ucu_four-fights-explainer.pdf

I am a member of UCU and will be taking Action Short of Strike (ASOS) the potential scope of which is explained here:  https://www.ucu.org.uk/ASOS-and-ARPS

There are also various graphics on the issues pertaining to the strike action here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/hedisputes You may wish to use these in email communications, or if you choose to talk about the strike with your students.

It is often the case that management will send out formal-sounding letters telling you to declare in advance whether you will be taking industrial action. This can have the effect of misleading and intimidating members. To be clear, you are under NO OBLIGATION to inform anyone in advance as to whether you will be taking part in strike action or action short of a strike. In order to fulfil legal requirements, employers have been provided with statistical information about UCU members taking industrial action, but not individual names. However, if your manager asks you after the strike whether you took action, you should answer truthfully. 

Non-members will get the pay increase and improved working conditions along with the many other benefits UCU have fought for over the years. The stronger the Branch, the stronger our hand. 

If colleagues are “unable” to do this, the next best thing is to ask them to refuse to cover the work of striking colleagues. Grounds for refusal include: 

• already being fully workplanned and being contracted to work a 37.5 hour week
• unless the work is comfortably within their usual area of work/expertise, refusal would be on the basis of professional integrity, maintaining a quality student experience and so on
• the NUS support the action
• they are on annual leave/RSA time

There is a comprehensive list of FAQs published by the national committee.

If you have a query which is pertinent to the local context at Sheffield Hallam, please contact your local rep/officer.