100 signatures reached
To: University of Sheffield Students' Union Trustee Board
University of Sheffield Students' Union Staff are #BetterThanZero
Dear University of Sheffield Students' Union,
As you know, Sheffield Students' Union employs hundreds of student staff on low pay and zero hours contracts, in the Students' Union cafes and bars. This means that staff do not know what they will earn each week, and cannot plan financially.
We call on the Students' Union to pay all staff, including those on casual contracts, the living wage of £9.30 an hour, to guarantee the right to a secure contract for all staff, and to introduce sick pay for casual staff and higher pay for unsocial hours.
Why is this important?
There are currently hundreds of workers at the Students’ Union working in the bars, cafés, shops and kitchens on zero hour contracts, with no access to sick pay, being paid just the minimum wage. They are mostly students who must work to pay their rent and continue their studies. The combination of low pay, an insufficient student loan, and high rent forces casual workers to scrape by in poor quality housing. Being close to maxing out your overdraft is, for many, normal.
Their work generates significant income for the Students' Union and is hugely important for the University's reputation. The improvements they are asking for would transform the lives of hundreds, and would cost less than the University's Vice Chancellor earns in a year.
We call on the University of Sheffield Students' Union to do the right thing, and show their casual workers that they are valued, that their health and wellbeing matter – that they are #BetterThanZero.