Breaking: There could be further lecturer strikes at 147 unis next term

Further lecturer strikes could plague UK campuses next term as the University and College Union (UCU) say 147 universities will vote on whether to take industrial action over working conditions, The Tab can exclusively reveal.

Staff who belong to the UCU will be asked to vote on whether or not they want to strike over a number of issues, including pay and the gender pay gap.

If members vote to strike it will affect more than double the number of universities that took part in the lecturer strikes earlier this year, including Oxford, Cambridge, Durham and Manchester.

The ballot will open to UCU members on the 30th August and close on 19th October. All members have been advised to vote yes to strike action, and to vote yes to action short of strike.

This follows an offer from universities that the UCU feels does nothing to address the problems of the declining value of pay, the gender pay gap and the introduction of temporary working contracts to replace full-time ones.

UCU General Secretary Sally Hunt told The Tab:

"Staff working in our universities have had enough of seeing their wages held down.

"The employers’ below-inflation pay offer does nothing to address years of decline in the value of pay in higher education and leaves us with no alternative but to ballot for industrial action.

"Universities need to make investment in staff a top priority and that means a decent pay offer and concrete commitments to tackle the gender pay gap and insecure employment."

Here is a full list of the 147 universities that may strike next term so you can see if your studies could be affected:

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