Cracks were today starting to appear in the student-lecturer coalition which is striking over the dual issues of fees and low pay this week, as leaders declared that they were putting everything into tomorrow's national shutdown of higher education.
The student week of action in protest at the government's plans to introduce top-up fees began yesterday with students walking out in Wales, followed by a walkout in English universities today, a national shutdown tomorrow and further strikes planned in Scotland and Northern Ireland on Thursday and Friday.
The Association of University Teachers, the union representing lecturers in the pre-1992 universities, have joined the strike to campaign against a pay deal which they say could leave some of their members worse off.
The National Union of Students said that up to five million students and lecturers were expected to walk out of universities across the country tomorrow. The higher education secretary. Alan Johnson, labelled the NUS and AUT's complaints over top-up fees and pay "contradictory".
Can Okar, the president of Bristol University's Student Union, said that they were not striking today, but were counting on tomorrow's walkout when they would be demonstrating in the town centre. "There is an objection to fees in general. There should never be a market in health and education. I think the change is quite Thatcherite," he said.
However, the student union's official policy on their website says: "A strike by students is rather self-defeating. At a time when dissertations need to be completed and exams are approaching, we believe Bristol students should be concentrating on getting the best possible degree.
"To hold a strike on the same day as the AUT is likely to deflect from their message and even undermine it. The messages are intertwined and we believe both are correct. However the government... may in the end decide to play both Students' Unions and the AUT off one another, undermining much of our hard work."
Tom Wong, the communications officer for Leeds University Student Union, said Leeds students were also planning their big demonstration for tomorrow: "We will have a walkout on Wednesday. At one o'clock there will be a rally and a march into the city centre. We want to make sure that both students and lecturers are united in their protest."
Steve Lax, the AUT spokesperson in Leeds said: "We believe the best thing in the long-term future of higher education is decent pay for staff, and free education for students. That's why the AUT policy is against top-up fees and we support students in their day of action on Wednesday."
However, Jonathan Old, the education officer at Nottingham University said: "To be blunt we're not doing any demonstrations or anything. Although the NUS have asked the student unions to take action, we recently passed a policy saying that mass action isn't the best way to confront the issue of tuition fees.
"The AUT are striking today and tomorrow. We cannot publicly support the AUT as it is detrimental to the student's education. They [the students] have lost a product - that is a lecture that they have paid for. Should they now be assessed on something they haven't studied?
"We appreciate the lecturers' concerns but cannot outwardly support them. We have urged our students to lobby the university for reimbursement of their fees for the lectures they have missed while the lecturers were on strike. I think both parties would like a quick resolution."
Chris Weavers, the vice-president of the National Union of Students, defended the action, saying: "Yes this will disadvantage students, but the fault isn't with the AUT, it's with the universities who aren't going to renegotiate the contract. Let's face it - academics aren't militant people, for them to take this action it must be serious.
"There are concerns from some student unions around the impact on students. But overall the support is extremely high. It will never be 100% but generally support at the local level is high. Even where the student union has chosen not to partake, like in Bristol, activists are still out on campuses talking about this.
"These issues are intrinsically linked. Variable fees will lead to variable pay and undermine the principal of parity in pay in HE."
Mandy Telford, the president of the National Union of Students, said that tomorrow's strike would be the biggest ever by students. "In an unprecedented move up to five million students and lecturers will make it plainly clear to the government that it has not won the war on top-up fees."
The higher education minister, Alan Johnson, today said that the dispute was a matter for the unions and employers, however he added: "It is very contradictory that the AUT have decided to link the pay dispute to the HE Bill which will inject around an extra £1bn per year into the university system and will mean that there is more money available for university employees' pay."
