Staff at another 14 universities can join strike action

The number of UK universities who could be hit with strike action this term now stands at 74 following a series of reballots in disputes over pensions, and over pay and conditions.

UCU members at 60 universities walked out for eight days between Monday 25 November and Wednesday 4 December. Staff at a further 14 universities* can now join them after UCU members there backed industrial action and, crucially, met the punitive 50% legal turnout threshold:

• Bath Spa University
• Birkbeck College
• Keele University
• King's College London
• Royal College of Art
• The University of Huddersfield
• The University of Winchester
• University of East London
• Leeds Trinity University
• SOAS, University of London
• UAL London College of Arts
• Imperial College London
• De Montfort University
• University of Greenwich

Members at Birkbeck and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) backed action in both disputes. A further nine institutions backed strike action over pay and conditions, while three more institutions could be set to walk out over pensions. Staff at two institutions that took part in strike action last year - the University of Oxford and the University of East Anglia - will also now be able to take action in relation to both disputes.

Overall, in the latest ballots 80% of members backed strikes over pensions, while 76% voted for strike action over pay and conditions. The union said that the strong support for action showed that members are just as determined as ever to defend their pensions, pay and working conditions. 

The union's higher education committee (HEC) meets tomorrow (Thursday) to consider the reballot results, listen to updates from both disputes and discuss next steps in the two disputes. The disputes centre on changes to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) and on universities' failure to make improvements on pay, equality, casualisation and workloads.

The body representing universities in the pay, equality, casualisation and workloads dispute made an offer to the unions on Tuesday evening. An analysis of that offer from UCU general secretary Jo Grady is available here. The union's HEC will consider that offer and receive an update on talks between UCU, USS and Universities UK - the universities' representatives in the dispute over USS pensions,

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: 'UCU members at 74 universities could walk out this term. We have been clear from the outset that we are prepared to take serious and sustained action to defend pay and conditions, as well as our pensions, and these latest results show that members are just as determined as ever.

'Our higher education committee meets tomorrow  to consider next steps in both disputes and will respond to the offer from the employers and discuss the latest from the talks on USS.'

The full updated list of institutions eligible to take strike action is as follows (updated institutions are in bold):

Both disputes (47):
1. Aston University
2. Bangor University
3. Cardiff University
4. University of Durham
5. Heriot-Watt University
6. Loughborough University
7. Newcastle University
8. The Open University
9. The University of Bath
10. The University of Dundee
11. The University of Leeds
12. The University of Manchester
13. The University of Sheffield
14. University of Nottingham
15. The University of Stirling
16. University College London
17. The University of Birmingham
18. The University of Bradford
19. The University of Bristol
20. The University of Cambridge
21. The University of Edinburgh
22. The University of Exeter
23. The University of Essex
24. The University of Glasgow
25. The University of Lancaster
26. The University of Leicester
27. City University
28. Goldsmiths College
29. Queen Mary University of London
30. Royal Holloway
31. The University of Reading
32. The University of Southampton
33. The University of St Andrews
34. Courtauld Institute of Art
35. The University of Strathclyde
36. The University of Wales
37. The University of Warwick
38. The University of York
39. The University of Liverpool
40. The University of Sussex

41. The University of Aberdeen
42. The University of Ulster
43. Queen's University Belfast
44. Birkbeck College, University of London
45. SOAS, University of London
46. The University of Oxford
47. The University of East Anglia

Pay and conditions dispute only (22):
1. Bishop Grosseteste University
2. Bournemouth University
3. Edge Hill University
4. Glasgow Caledonian University
5. Glasgow School of Art
6. Liverpool Hope University
7. Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts
8. Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh
9. St Mary's University College, Belfast
10. Roehampton University
11. Sheffield Hallam University
12. The University of Brighton
13. The University of Kent
14. Bath Spa University
15. Royal College of Art
16. University of Huddersfield
17. University of Winchester
18. University of East London
19. Leeds Trinity University
20. UAL London College of Arts
21. De Montfort University
22. University of Greenwich

USS pensions dispute only (5):
1. Scottish Association of Marine Science
2. Institute for Development Studies
3. Keele University
4. King's College London
5. Imperial College London