Strike ballot at 143 universities

The dispute rests on universities' failure to improve on the 2% pay offer made at pay talks last May. UCU said that offer from the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) did nothing to address the falling value of higher education pay, which has declined in real terms by 21% since 2009.

UCU wrote to vice-chancellors and principals in July asking them to intervene in the negotiations and persuade UCEA to return with an offer that better reflected the demands in the union's claim. The union said that as no offer has been made by UCEA which UCU could recommend to its members, it had no alternative but to ballot for industrial action. 

UCU had sought guarantees that universities would tackle the gender pay gap, insecure contracts and excessive workloads, as well as an offer that seriously addressed the fall in the value of their pay, which has dropped by 21% in real terms since 2009.

UCU head of policy, Matt Waddup, said: 'Staff have concerns about spiralling workloads, pay inequality and the continued casualisation of the workforce. Yet universities have failed to engage with us in these negotiations which has undermined the credibility of national bargaining and left us in a situation where we have no alternative but to ballot our members.

'Staff want these important issues to be taken seriously, and that includes the 21% loss in the value of their pay since 2009, which the recently imposed 2% pay offer does nothing to address.'

List of the 143 institutions being balloted

1. University of Aberdeen

2. Abertay University

3. Aberystwyth University

4. Anglia Ruskin University

5. University of the Arts London

6. Arts University Bournemouth

7. Aston University

8. Bangor University

9. University of Bath

10. Bath Spa University

11. University of Bedfordshire

12. Birkbeck, University of London

13. University of Birmingham*

14. Bishop Grosseteste University

15. University of Bolton

16. Bournemouth University

17. University of Bradford

18. University of Bristol

19. Brunel University London

20. Buckinghamshire New University

21. University of Cambridge

22. Canterbury Christ Church University

23. Cardiff Metropolitan University

24. Cardiff University

25. University of Central Lancashire

26. University of Chester

27. University of Chichester

28. City, University of London

29. Coventry University

30. University of Cumbria

31. De Montfort University

32. University of Derby*

33. University of Dundee

34. Durham University

35. University of East Anglia

36. University of East London

37. Edge Hill University

38. University of Edinburgh

39. Edinburgh Napier University

40. University of Essex

41. University of Exeter

42. Falmouth University

43. University of Glasgow

44. Glasgow Caledonian University

45. Glasgow School of Art

46. University of Gloucestershire

47. Glyndŵr University

48. Goldsmiths, University of London

49. University of Greenwich

50. Harper Adams University

51. Heriot-Watt University

52. University of Hertfordshire

53. University of Hull

54. Keele University*

55. University of Kent

56. King's College London

57. Kingston University London

58. Lancaster University

59. University of Leeds

60. Leeds Beckett University

61. Leeds Trinity University

62. University of Leicester

63. University of Lincoln

64. University of Liverpool

65. Liverpool Hope University

66. Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts

67. Liverpool John Moores University

68. Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine

69. London Metropolitan University

70. London School of Economics & Political Science

71. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine

72. London South Bank University

73. University of London (Senate)

74. Loughborough University

75. University of Manchester

76. Manchester Metropolitan University

77. Middlesex University

78. Newcastle University

79. Newman University

80. University of Northampton

81. Northumbria University

82. Norwich University of the Arts

83. University of Nottingham*

84. Nottingham Trent University

85. Open University

86. University of Oxford

87. Oxford Brookes University

88. Plymouth University

89. University of Portsmouth

90. Queen Margaret University

91. Queen Mary University of London

92. Queen's University Belfast

93. University of Reading

94. Robert Gordon University

95. University of Roehampton

96. Rose Bruford College

97. Royal Academy of Music

98. Royal Agricultural University

99. The Royal Central School of Speech & Drama

100. Royal College of Art

101. Royal College of Music

102. Royal Holloway, University of London

103. Royal Northern College of Music

104. Royal Veterinary College

105. University of Salford

106. University of Sheffield

107. Sheffield Hallam University

108. SOAS, University of London

109. University of Southampton

110. Southampton Solent University

111. University of South Wales

112. University of St Andrews

113. St George's University of London

114. St Mary's University College, Belfast

115. St Mary's University, Twickenham

116. Staffordshire University

117. University of Stirling

118. University of St Mark & St John

119. Stranmillis University College

120. University of Strathclyde

121. University of Suffolk

122. University of Sunderland

123. University of Surrey

124. University of Sussex

125. Swansea University

126. Teesside University

127. Trinity Laban

128. Ulster University

129. University College Birmingham

130. University College London

131. University for the Creative Arts

132. University of Wales - Registry

133. University of Wales Trinity Saint David

134. University of Warwick

135. University of West London

136. University of the West of England, Bristol

137. University of the West of Scotland

138. University of Westminster

139. University of Winchester

140. University of Wolverhampton

141. University of Worcester

142. University of York

143. York St John University