Leaders of the Association of University Teachers (AUT) have given the go-ahead for a week-long strike over pay, while urging employers to reopen negotiations.
The union's executive committee unanimously backed the results of yesterday's vote by AUT members to take action against new pay proposals.
They will join the National Union of Students (NUS) in a week of protest starting on February 23, designed to bring higher education institutions across the UK to a standstill.
During the week of action, the union claims institutions across the country will close down while rallies and pickets are held.
AUT leaders have also announced a boycott of call-out cover and all job evaluation exercises starting on March 1.
The AUT general secretary, Sally Hunt, said: "The decision of the AUT executive committee sends out a clear signal to the employers that this union, having secured a clear mandate for both strike action and action short of a strike, means business."
She said she hoped the threat of action would send a warning signal to employers: "We hope that the employers will understand the seriousness of the situation and reopen negotiations now."
But university employers said the union's claims were overblown and a "scare story". Jocelyn Prudence, chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association said: "Talk of a sector-wide shutdown is irresponsible. Linking the dispute with the issue of tuition fees is opportunistic. This proposed strike will include only a tiny minority of higher education staff and most universities and colleges will carry on pretty much as usual."
She said the teachers would be shooting themselves in the foot by boycotting job evaluations and added: "Our door has been, and still is, open to the AUT to talk about how their particular concerns can be addressed in its implementation. It is not us who has chosen this route of conflict."
The week of action will see a day of strikes consecutively at institutions in Wales, England, Scotland and Northern Ireland with one day of joint action across the whole of the UK on Wednesday February 25. The action will be coordinated with the NUS, who will be campaigning against variable top-up fees.
The timetable for the joint action is as follows: February 23: Strike action by the AUT and disruptive action by the NUS in Wales February 24: Strike action by the AUT and disruptive action by the NUS in England February 25: Strike action by the AUT and disruptive action by the NUS across the UK February 26: Strike action by the AUT and disruptive action by the NUS in Scotland February 27: Strike action by the AUT and disruptive action by the NUS in Northern Ireland.
