University of Sheffield International College: Five day strike planned for this week suspended

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) were due to stage a walkout this week over a long-running wage dispute. It was set to be the “first ever strike” to take place in a privatised higher education provider, according to the union.

The walkout has been cancelled while staff vote over a new pay offer. If the deal is thrown out, the strike will instead resume on Monday, November 28 and last three days.

Staff are demanding a 12 per cent pay increase and voted to strike after they were offered five per cent earlier this year.

The university’s International College provides preparation courses for overseas students who want to study in the city. It is a privately run college owned by a company called Study Group where tuition costs upwards of £22,000 a year.

It comes after over 70,000 UCU members from 150 universities voted to strike earlier this month, affecting the education of an estimated 2.5 million students.

UCU regional official said Julie Kelley said: “To allow time for further consultation, our members have agreed to suspend the strike action planned for this week. This gesture of goodwill shows we are prepared to work towards an agreement but in the middle of a cost of living crisis it is clear that employers can do better. We are a democratic union and it is now up to our members to decide next steps.”