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THE UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD’S INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER
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ISSUE 131 | WEDNESDAY 13TH MARCH 2019 | FREE
Trams will be interrupted for five months Niall O’Callaghan
Supertram, the tram service that runs through Sheffield, is to intermittently stop services over a period of five months between April and August this year. The work will be complete just before the start of the 2019/20 academic year, in which SU President-elect Jake Verity has promised students a new ‘student tram fare’. Stagecoach, the company which runs the service, is halting services to replace essential... (cont. on p5)
Image: Juliet Cookson
Frustrated employees say Sheffield SU is ‘exploiting’ its staff, as stand-off over payment method continues Ewan Somerville
Sheffield Students’ Union is “exploiting” and ignoring the welfare of its lowest paid staff, it has been claimed as Forge Press can reveal that a stand-off has emerged between top Union figures and those pulling the pints. Bosses at Britain’s top SU have prompted widespread backlash over their plans to change the pay of several hundred employees from
a long-established weekly basis to a monthly rate. The measures, due to be imposed at the start of April if passed, will affect the Union’s ‘casual’ workforce which are mostly students, all subjected to zero-hours contracts, and commonly seen at popular SU outlets including Bar One, Coffee Revolution and Foundry. Seven casual staff members have expressed their frustration to Forge Press, with many questioning whether Sheffield SU deserves the
title of the nation’s best when the new pay scheme will, they say, cause unnecessary stress at a time when mental health is at the top of the agenda for universities nationwide. However, other disenchanted SU staff say the pay dispute is not an isolated concern but rather the culmination of a wider feeling of anger that has built up among the casual workforce. Senior managers at Sheffield SU, which is formally independent from the University of Sheffield, say
the changes will allow less “timeconsuming” administration and free staff from paying National Insurance and pension pot contributions. One student casual worker at Sheffield SU, who asked to remain anonymous, told Forge Press that the case shows that the pride the Union stressed it holds in listening to its workforce when employing them was mere “lip service”. “Despite what they say, the Students’ Union always puts their profits ahead of... (cont. on p7)
WEP candidate pledges to hear students Ben Warner
The Women’s Equality Party candidate for Ecclesall ward has pledged to listen to students if elected in May’s local elections. Megan Senior was announced as the party’s candidate for the ward on Tuesday 5 March. This will be the first time voters in Ecclesall have the chance to vote for the WEP. She came to Sheffield as a student in 2010, and if elected wants to make sure she is a voice on... (cont. on p4)