Lecturers have threatened to “bring every university to a complete standstill” after tens of thousands of union members voted to strike over pay and pensions.
Students face lecturers and support staff walking out this winter after the University and College Union (UCU) secured a mandate for strike action at almost every UK university.
It is the first time an education union has passed the legal threshold, introduced in 2016, of at least 50 per cent turnout to call a national strike.
The UCU has called on 150 vice-chancellors to enter negotiations “immediately” and “make improved offers” in order to avoid disruption.
In a ballot on strike action over a three per cent pay rise this year, 81 per cent of around 38,000 union members who voted said they were in favour of strike action.
In a separate ballot over pension cuts, 85 per cent of the circa 29,000 members who voted said they supported going on strike.
The union said that 70,000 university staff, including lecturers and non-academic staff, could now walk out following the votes.
Sector 'raking in tens of billions of pounds'
Jo Grady, the UCU general secretary, said: "Well, now it’s 150 bosses against 70,000 university workers who are ready and willing to bring the entire sector to a standstill, if serious negotiations don’t start very soon.
“University staff are crucial workers in communities up and down the UK. They are sending a clear message that they will not accept falling pay, insecure employment and attacks on pensions. They know their power and are ready to take back what is theirs from a sector raking in tens of billions of pounds.”
The latest vote comes as three teaching unions - the National Education Union, National Association of Head Teachers and the National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers - prepare to formally ballot their members on national strike action over pay.
A spokesman for Office for Students, the higher education regulator, said: “We are very concerned about the potential impact of these strikes on students. It cannot be right that students face further disruption to their studies, and we would urge the employers and trade unions to work quickly so that any industrial dispute does not materially affect students.”
The regulator said that universities “should consider how they will make up for any disruption caused by industrial action”.
It added: “This might include rescheduling any teaching which is missed, delivering course topics in a different way or considering whether partial refunds of tuition fees are appropriate.”
'Any increase in pay puts jobs at risk'
A Universities UK (UUK) spokesperson said that universities “will put in place a series of measures to minimise the impact of any industrial action on students, other staff and the wider community."
The dispute over pensions is centred on the UCU's claim that the valuation of the Universities Superannuation Scheme is flawed and could lower members' guaranteed retirement income by 35 per cent.
However, UUK, speaking on behalf of USS employers, rejects the claim and says contributions to USS pensions are "among the highest in the country and at the very limit of affordability".
Raj Jethwa, the chief executive of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, said: “It is disappointing that the UCU’s HE [higher education] members have voted in favour of industrial action, even though two-thirds of academics are not actually members of UCU or any union.”
He added: "HE institutions want to do more for their valuable staff, but any increase in pay puts jobs at risk."
