University lecturers threaten to strike

University lecturers are set to strike next month as part of a long-running dispute over pay. Academic and support staff in the "new" universities are balloting for industrial action to force employers to the negotiating table.

University lecturers are set to strike next month as part of a long-running dispute over pay. Academic and support staff in the "new" universities are balloting for industrial action to force employers to the negotiating table.

A one-day stoppage is already planned for 5 December, but union leaders last night threatened an escalating series of stoppages and other action if vice-chancellors refuse to agree to their demands.

Lecturers want employers to open negotiations over this year's national pay deal. They want an improvement to the 3 per cent national deal and secure concessions on pay rises for the lowest-paid support and research staff.

The threat of strikes is the latest twist in a long-running battle over academic pay sparked by the publication of an independent report earlier this year that recommended pay rises as part of a widespread restructuring of academic pay.

The strike ballot is being organised by members of the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) along with support staff unions Unison and the Transport and General Workers' Union.

Last night Tom Wilson, head of universities at NATFHE, said he was confident of a substantial mandate for industrial action when the ballot results are published on 21 November.

He said: "It really is a scandal that cleaners and porters in universities are the poorest paid public servants.

"It is ridiculous to try to recruit researchers on £10,700 a year, which is the bottom of our pay scale.You can't get anybody for that."