Tens of thousands of lecturers will today take part in their first nationwide strike for five years as part of a worsening row over changes to pay and pensions.

 
Members of the University and College Union will walk out of 500 further education colleges, older universities and former polytechnics across the country and mount picket lines in Cardiff, Glasgow, Liverpool, Manchester, Oxford and several London sites. Rallies will also be held in many cities.
 
The industrial action is the latest in a series of walkouts by the union and comes on top of four days of protests by dons at 67 older universities in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland over changes to the Universities’ Superannuation Scheme.
 
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said that university and college personnel were making their views on the “detrimental changes” crystal clear.
 
“Strike action is always a last resort, but the attacks on pensions and pay have created real anger and, instead of burying their heads in the sand, the employers need to respond urgently to our concerns. Staff are sick to the back teeth of being told that their pay and pensions need to be cut to pay for an economic crisis created by others,” she added.
 
But Professor Keith Burnett, chairman of the Universities and Colleges Employers Association, said that they were “extremely disappointed” by the action.
 
“We are concerned that the UCU may be confusing its members, staff and students by combining separate ballot outcomes with generic strike action. We look to UCU to work with higher education institutions during this period of change and challenge for all, not against them,” he said.
 
Although the strike will disrupt the lectures of students nearing the end of the academic year, the National Union of Students was supportive.
 
NUS president Aaron Porter said: “Huge cuts to university budgets ideologically imposed by this government pose a massive threat to jobs and education. NUS has worked closely with UCU throughout our campaigns to oppose government cuts and stands in solidarity with their strike action.”