The UK¡¯s Open University has clashed with a union over plans to ¡°fire and rehire¡± staff.

In 2021 the distance learning institution agreed to move more than 4,000 associate lecturers from casualised terms onto permanent contracts, under a deal?that came with a pay rise attached.

The university said that this led to some staff being in line for contracts stating that they should work excessively long hours ¨C between 45 and 120 hours a week ¨C and that it wanted to address this.

But the University and College Union said that more than 160 associate lecturers had been told to ¡°sign a new contract on reduced pay or be fired and rehired under worse terms and conditions¡±.

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UCU said that 26 lecturers had refused to sign the new contracts, and that the OU had started a consultation?that would end in the remaining staff being fired and rehired next January if an agreement is not reached.

UCU said that the lecturers ¡°have a high workload, often because they have agreed to do additional work in areas the university has found it hard to recruit in¡±.

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Its OU branch has launched a protesting against the proposals.

¡°The use of fire and rehire has no place in higher education, calls into question the university¡¯s commitment to good industrial relations and suggests the university does not value its staff or care about its reputation,¡± said Jo Grady, the UCU general secretary.

¡°The university is using fire and rehire to punish staff who are unhappy with their proposals and is trying to bully the process through to get it in place before a change of law banning this practice.¡±

An OU spokeswoman said that the university ¡°strongly disagree[d] with this characterisation of our ongoing negotiations¡±.

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¡°In conjunction with UCU, the Open University converted contracts for more than 4,000 casually employed associate lecturers on to a more permanent basis in 2022. Some people have accrued contracts that would see them working anywhere between 45 and 120 hours a week,¡± the spokeswoman said. ¡°We want to address this because we don¡¯t believe that it is an equitable position; nor is it good employment practice. We don¡¯t believe it¡¯s good for the OU and crucially we don¡¯t believe it is good for our students.¡±

The spokeswoman added: ¡°We remain puzzled that UCU are defending this practice whilst at the same time launching campaigns about excessive workloads.

¡°It is not true to suggest we are offering lower salaries: we are offering manageable hours at the same rate, with a transition period of over two years and compensatory payments.¡±

chris.havergal@timeshighereducation.com