Lecturers’ union in warning over pay

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are to begin a series of two-hour walkouts this week aimed at disrupting teaching.

The union claims a number of universities have sent letters to staff saying they will deduct a day’s wages from anyone involved in the action.

University employers said they had taken legal advice and that institutions were entitled to cut pay by this amount for those taking part.

The University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) has expressed disappointment at what it described as the UCU’s “latest tactic to disrupt higher education institutions”.

The two-hour walkouts are an escalation of UCU’s industrial action over a one per cent pay rise offered to university staff. UCU says members have faced a 13 per cent pay cut in real terms since October 2008.

The latest action could see students across the UK face major disruption. Tens of thousands of lectures and seminars will be at risk of cancellation when the walkouts start, the union has claimed. It has also warned that if there is no breakthrough in the dispute, its members would consider a boycott of exam marking, which could mean students are left without the final marks they need to gain their degree.

The first two-hour strike will take place tomorrow between 11am and 1pm, followed by further strikes next Tuesday between 2pm and 4pm and Monday, February 10 from 9am to 11am.

A UCEA spokesman said a significant number of universities are withholding a full day’s pay from union members taking part in the strike action and all are withholding pay for a minimum of two hours.