Staff at the University of Sheffield are prepared to continue striking over the next two weeks, following the launch of industrial action on Wednesday.
The official nine-day walkout begins on Tuesday 6 May, as members of the Sheffield University and College Union (UCU) protest plans by The University of Sheffield to impose 50 compulsory redundancies, part of a strategy to reduce staffing costs by £23 million over the next two years.
The proposed redundancies follow the departure of over 340 staff members through the recent ‘Voluntary Severance Scheme’.
Oli Johnson, a member of the 301 Academic skills team at The University of Sheffield, joined the strike on Wednesday. He said: “None of us want to strike, I would absolutely rather be at work today, but we have to do this to show how serious we are.
“I will be on strike every day of those nine days if I need to. It’s a last resort, but we don’t feel like we’re being listened to.”
Staff voted to take strike action in April. The UCU believes that the university does not need to make any compulsory redundancies.
David Hayes, senior lecturer in the School of Law, said that the staff should be ‘prepared to strike’ for as long as necessary. “The pressure really needs to be put on University management to meet with us, we’re striking to try and make things better so that we can deliver a better education to our students going forward.
“Our message is that you don’t have to take the destructive and risk averse approach that you’re taking at the moment.”
The office for students has stated that the students may be entitled to claim compensation for missed teaching.
Professor Mary Vincent, Vice-President for Education at the University of Sheffield, said: “We understand that students may be concerned. We expect that the vast majority of our students will be unaffected, but where there is disruption, we will do everything we can to support them and minimise the impact on their education.”
Despite the distribution, many students are supporting the strike.
Isabelle Heap, secretary of the Young Greens Society, said: “I fully support the reasons why staff have voted to strike, I’d much rather staff have job security and fair compensation for their work.
“It makes me angry at the university for making decisions that have forced the staff to strike.”
