Sheffield University UCU will fight closure of archaeological department

Protests to save the Archaeology department at Sheffield University Photo: Alistair Tice

Protests to save the Archaeology department at Sheffield University Photo: Alistair Tice   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Despite nearly 47,000 signatures on a petition and at least three protests of well over 100 staff and students, the Sheffield University Council voted on 12 July to go ahead with their Executive Board’s proposal to effectively close the Archaeology Department.

In response, an Emergency General Meeting of over 200 University and College Union (UCU) members voted overwhelmingly to ballot for “sustained industrial action” in the autumn if the decision isn’t reversed.

UCU branch officer Robyn Orfitelli said: “We do not accept this closure, we will not accept redundancies, and we will not accept a university which is not run in a transparent, democratic, and accountable manner”, after the decision had been “railroaded through the university’s governance processes” in the face of widespread opposition from staff, students and the wider archaeology community.

Last year, UCU industrial action at the University of Sheffield beat an attempted implementation of controversial ‘fire and rehire’ contracts.

Alistair Tice, Sheffield Socialist Party

Workplace and trade union, Education