Local pay plan sparks boycott call

Nottingham University is facing a global academic boycott in time for freshers' week next month in protest over its plans to introduce local pay arrangements for non-academic staff.

Sally Hunt, Association of University Teachers general secretary, confirmed in a letter to vice-chancellor Sir Colin Campbell this week that the union's executive has approved plans to "greylist" Nottingham (the politically correct name for a "blacklist") from September 20.

The AUT will call on academics across the globe to shun voluntary collaboration with the university, such as business deals, research papers and conferences.

Ms Hunt said: "Greylisting is something we rarely threaten to use, and because of this it is a step academics and our sister unions across the globe will support vigorously."

In a statement, the university said: "Meaningful negotiations are impossible while the threat exists. We believe that by adopting a negative approach, the AUT has chosen to break off talks."