Motion: Greylisting Sheffield Hallam University

The Sheffield Hallam UCU Branch Notes:

Sheffield Hallam University is planning to make £26 million in cuts to its budget and has proposed a tranche of changes to employment terms and conditions. Academic staff are at risk of redundancy, with further proposals expected that would place additional professional services staff at risk. This follows the loss of more than 1,000 academic and professional services posts across the university over the past two years.
The proposed changes to academic terms and conditions will result in increased workloads, forced pension changes, demotion to lower paid roles, and diminishing career progression. In a broader context, the proposed changes risk the destruction of Sheffield Hallam’s academic, technical, and administrative infrastructure.
In “consultation” meetings with the unions, Sheffield Hallam senior management has not only failed to rule out compulsory redundancies but also refused to seriously consider viable alternatives to compulsory redundancies that tackle short-term financial issues with long-term solutions that preserve jobs and create growth. This reflects a lack of engagement by management in either meaningful consultation or genuine negotiation, violating sections 188 and 178 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Consolidation Act 1992 (TULRCA).

The Sheffield Hallam UCU Branch Believes:

The current redundancy plans by Sheffield Hallam management reflect an unprecedented assault on staff that will negatively impact Sheffield Hallam University’s operational effectiveness, reputation, and student experience for years to come.
Sheffield Hallam senior management’s blatant disregard of local agreements, use of subsidiary company to circumnavigate responsibility for pension provision and plans for entrenching a tiered academic workforce sets a worrying precedent not just for Sheffield Hallam, but for UK HE more widely.

The Sheffield Hallam Branch Resolves:

To carry out an online ballot (consistent with UCU’s Censure and Academic Boycott Policy) about whether Sheffield Hallam should be added to the national UCU’s list of greylisted institutions. Greylisting as a sanction would include but not be restricted to:
not applying for any advertised jobs at Sheffield Hallam University
not agreeing to speaking at or organising academic or other conferences at Sheffield Hallam University
not accepting new invitations to give talks or lectures at Sheffield Hallam
not accepting new positions as visiting professors or researchers at Sheffield Hallam University
not accepting invitations outside of contract to write for any academic journal which is edited at or produced by Sheffield Hallam University
not accepting new contracts as external examiners for taught courses at Sheffield Hallam Univeristy