All university staff, from porters to professors, from both old and new universities, could walk out in industrial action this November.
Two higher education unions have voted to ballot their members on industrial action as momentum gathers for an unprecedented wave of strike action over pay and funding cuts. Action could include exam boycotts.
The Association of University Teachers voted on Wednesday at a special council meeting, in London, to ballot members following the governing council's decision officially to reject the 1.5 per cent pay offer from the Universities and Colleges Employers Association. Union members will be asked to vote in support of strike action and/or support for action short of a strike.
The AUT also called upon the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals to ensure that the 1996 salary claim is met through a fully and freely negotiated settlement or, failing this, to agree to independent binding arbitration. They also called for the abolition of the UCEA and called on the CVCP to support an independent pay review body.
The AUT vote followed a similar decision by the Association of University and College Lecturers governing council on Saturday. The National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education is also expected to hold a ballot as are unions such as Unison and the Transport and General Workers Union, which represent non-academic staff in the sector, and whose members have been offered 2.5 per cent.
All the HE-related unions decided in July to co-odinate any action though the precise timing of the ballots is still to be finalised. Most unions, however, are now looking to November as the likely start of any action and, Union spokesmen say that the Electoral Reform Society will, most probably, conduct both ballots to ensure they comply with the law. A simple majority, of even a minority turnout, is sufficient to justify industrial action initially though union leaders say that final decisions on the scale and nature of any industrial action will be made by executive members following the results of the ballots.
Meanwhile, the Trades Union Congress has taken initial steps towards the setting up of a working party to gather information and formulate the congress' submission to the Dearing Inquiry. All higher education unions are expected to contribute. The move followed an overwhelming vote in favour of the AUT's motion to last week's Trades Union Congress calling on the TUC general council to submit evidence supporting adequate HE funding and the immediate restoration of the 1996 budget cuts.