Staff at both Uni of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam set to strike for 18 days before Easter

Staff and lecturers at the University of Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam University are set to go on strike for 18 days this term.

The University and College Union (UCU) has announced that 70,000 staff at 150 UK universities will be striking for 18 days in February and March, as staff are in an ongoing campaign for better pay and pensions, among other things.

That will make a total of 21 days of industrial action so far this academic year after staff went on strike for three days before Christmas. To put that into perspective, academic year 21-22 experienced 18 days of strikes in total for the entire year. A Tab investigation this summer found Russell Group unis saved £11million in withheld pay whilst lecturers were on strike last university year.

🚨BREAKING🚨

EVERY SINGLE UK UNIVERSITY WILL BE SHUT DOWN WITH 18 DAYS OF STRIKE ACTION ACROSS FEBRUARY AND MARCH

RT if you support our members. #ucuRISING pic.twitter.com/eLygR0LAeO

— UCU (@ucu) January 12, 2023

The UCU has not yet said the exact dates uni staff will be striking, and has said this will be confirmed next week.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “Today our union came together to back an unprecedented programme of escalating strike action. The clock is now ticking for the sector to produce a deal or be hit with widespread disruption.

“University staff dedicate their lives to education and they want to get back to work, but that will only happen if university vice-chancellors use the vast wealth of the sector to address over a decade of falling pay, rampant insecure employment practices and devastating pension cuts. The choice is theirs.”

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