'Too many fixed-term staff at British universities'
02-02-2007
British universities are employing too many members of staff on fixed-term or hourly paid contracts, a union has claimed.
According to figures from the University and College Union (UCU), 43 per cent of academic staff and nearly a quarter of non-academic university professionals are on fixed-term contracts.
The union claimed that new employment legislation that came into force last summer meant some non-permanent employees were entitled to full contracts, but many institutions were trying to provide education "on the cheap".
A union survey found that 24 per cent of staff on fixed-term contracts were not invited to staff meetings, while among the further approximately 80,000 staff on hourly paid contracts, 74 per cent wanted permanent contracts.
UCU joint general secretary Sally Hunt said: "We cannot build a world-class university sector on the exploitation of staff, yet casual contracts are still a fact of life for more than 150,000 academic and related staff in the UK.
"Casualisation in our universities may be invisible to the public and to students but it is the unacceptable underbelly of higher education in this country."
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