University strike called off after deal reached

A strike by staff at Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) has been called off after plans to move workers to a less generous pension scheme were scrapped.

Employees began a series of action last month and were due to walk out again this week - but the university and the University and College Union (UCU) confirmed an agreement had been reached.

The university said it had withdrawn plans to move staff into a subsidiary company and out of their current pension scheme, and had increased its voluntary redundancy (VR) payment.

A spokesperson for SHU said: "We hope this enhanced offer will result in a sufficient uptake of VR to meet the required savings without the need for compulsory redundancies."

Staff at the university had planned 18 days of action, and were due to strike from Monday until Friday this week.

A UCU spokesperson said: "Following weeks of industrial action, UCU members at Hallam have secured an agreement that academic staff will remain employed by the university and retain access to their existing Teachers Pension Scheme (TPS).

"Strikes planned for this week are now off.

"Hallam is attempting to save £27m by the end of this academic year, following two years of cuts that have already seen 1,000 staff leave the university."

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'We welcome the decision of Sheffield Hallam to keep staff employed by the university and in their pension scheme, but they must now rule out compulsory redundancies.

"Our members should never have been forced to go on strike but our sustained action shows that we will fight for fair working conditions and not stand by and allow management to gut this university in an attempt to save money.

"Senior leaders now need to sit down with us and work to protect jobs and student provision."

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