British university employers offered staff a 0.3% pay rise on Wednesday but it is the issue of job cuts that has union members planning to ballot for strike action.

Union leaders have called for an 8% rise in pay next year but in response the University and College Employers’ Association (UCEA) offered what it called a “realistic, responsible and credible” figure of 0.3% at today’s second official meeting to set the 2009-10 wage levels.

But the University and College Union (UCU) said it would still ballot for strike action because of the threat of job cuts, which it said would affect the quality of students’ education and damage the sector.

A UCU spokesman said “There is nothing to prevent UCEA negotiating a national agreement to prevent job losses. In fact in these exceptional financial circumstances we think it is absolutely essential. They have failed to understand, or deal with, the full scale of the jobs crisis in the sector and left us with no choice but to ballot our members for industrial action. Those ballot papers go out this week.”

UCEA argued that it had no jurisdiction to negotiate or regulate jobs in the sector and employment of staff was up to individual institutions.

Diana Warwick, of the vice-chancellors’ group, Universities UK welcomed the offer.

“Universities do not want to lose talented individuals – the contribution to the UK economy by higher education will be critical to our way out of the recession – but this is equally why we must ensure our universities are sustainable.”

From Anthea Lipsett at the Guardian