LONDON South Bank University (LSBU) staff have begun balloting over plans to tear up the contracts of all academics, the University and College Union (UCU) announced today.

The ballot, which runs until Friday May 22, is over the university’s decision to terminate all academic contracts and “pit them against each other” in a redundancy selection process, the UCU said.

LSBU intends to tear up agreements and divide the workforce into teaching and research, or teaching and scholarship, it said.

The new contracts increase working hours without additional pay, and deny all new teaching and scholarship starters access to the university’s standard pension scheme by employing them through a subsidiary.

LSBU UCU branch secretary Federica Rossi called it “one of the most serious attacks on academic staff in higher education,” saying: “If these measures are allowed to proceed, they risk setting a dangerous precedent.”

Professor Tara Dean, university provost, said the proposals aim to create more teaching time and focus research, supporting financial sustainability while reducing posts by about 15. 

She added that meaningful consultation runs until May 29 and the university remains open to negotiation.