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UK universities could be hit with nationwide strikes after the University and College Union (UCU) announced it will ballot its members over pay.

Trade unions have rejected the Universities and Colleges Employers¡¯ Association¡¯s?final pay offer of 1.4 per cent for most staff?¨C well below their?

UCU will now open an industrial ballot the week commencing 20 October, adding that other unions in the sector are also considering ballots of their members, ¡°paving the way¡± for coordinated industrial action between all sector unions in the new year. Such action would cause ¡°maximum disruption on campuses¡±, the union said.

But?̽»¨ÊÓƵ?understands that the vote passed narrowly on UCU¡¯s higher education committee, which met on 1 September, with some members criticising the decision to pursue a national ballot over pay while?job cuts?ravage the sector.?

The union originally voted to pursue a national strike ballot over pay last December, but plans?were dropped in February?amid fears that pushing for a bigger pay increase was out of touch with the redundancy crisis facing cash-strapped universities, with estimates that?10,000 workers have left higher education in the past year alone.

A consultative ballot on the dispute secured?a turnout of just 32 per cent, 61 per cent of whom said that they would be willing to participate in industrial action over the offer.

Jo Grady, general secretary of UCU, said that academics ¡°are the university¡±.?

¡°Employers now need to recognise that imposing a 1.4 per cent pay award, when inflation is still soaring, is a significant real-terms pay cut and an insult to hard-working higher education staff.

¡°It¡¯s time for them to come back to the table with an improved offer that will settle this dispute and avoid the need for a strike ballot and potential industrial action,¡± Grady said.?

Raj Jethwa, chief executive of Ucea, said that the sector and students will be ¡°concerned about yet another trade union-generated ballot for industrial action¡±.

He added that it is ¡°palpably clear¡± that institutions cannot afford to improve the uplift, noting the sector is reeling from the decline in overseas students, increased costs for employer contributions to the Teachers¡¯ Pension Scheme and National Insurance payments.

Ucea had begun developing the non-pay-related items of the pay offer, including work to reduce pay gaps, contract types and workload, but Jethwa said that the news of an industrial action ballot will see Ucea pursue these issues without the input of the trade unions.

¡°Employers take these issues extremely seriously. But they also take seriously the threat of industrial action and will have measures in place to mitigate the impact on students.¡±

Jethwa said the unions¡¯ demand of a rise of at least RPI?plus 3.5 per cent or ?2,500 remains unchanged.

¡°This is perplexing when institutions cannot afford the current uplift,¡± he sad. ¡°The sector urges the trade unions to understand sector financial sustainability, and reconsider its decision and the repercussions before any industrial action ballot is launched.¡±

juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com