The battle over the future of national bargaining could dictate whether top-up fees will be introduced, lecturers' union Natfhe warned this week.
Natfhe has launched a campaign, threatening national industrial action, against moves to scrap national bargaining. It says that if university employers get their way the debate against market-rate tuition fees will be lost.
The way would then be clear for universities to charge home undergraduates tuition fees of several thousand pounds a year.
Natfhe's claims are based on a survey of employers by the University and Colleges Employers Association, which found that most vice-chancellors want to end national bargaining on staff conditions.
Natfhe's head of universities, Tom Wilson, said: "It is the thin end of the wedge. The free market model created by the collapse of national bargaining will create practical reasons for top-up fees, as universities face financial pressures. And it will create a philosophical basis for top-up fees. There is no point in hiding from the issue."
Mr Wilson has written to the Department for Education and Employment warning of the principles at stake. He expects support over the national bargaining campaign from education secretary David Blunkett, who has made clear his opposition to top-up tuition fees.
Although only new universities are subject to national bargaining on conditions, lecturers in old universities have warned of the knock-on effect for the future of sector-wide national pay bargaining. The Association of University Teachers has accused the UCEA of attempting to end national pay bargaining, and called on the government to intervene.
Peter Humphries, chief executive of the UCEA, said that while UCEA subscribers had taken a clear view that they wanted to continue the trend towards the erosion of national negotiations on terms and conditions, the majority of university employers continued to support national pay negotiations.