Thousands of university staff must be voted for strikes in a dispute over payment.
The University Union and College (UCU) said that 65,000 of its members working in universities throughout the United Kingdom will vote in the coming weeks about whether to launch an industrial action campaign.
The union said that employers had refused to increase a 1.4%salary offer.
The UCU said that preparations for an added vote has begun throughout the United Kingdom of its members, which covers 138 institutions, which hopes to open on October 20.
He warned about the coordinated industrial action with other unions that represent university staff in the new year.
The UCU general secretary, Jo Gray, said: “University employers are now notified that we will launch a salary vote throughout the United Kingdom with the potential of coordinated strike actions that will cause the maximum interruption on the campus.
“Our members, not the vice -rectors, are the people who support students, create teaching materials, carry out leading research in the world and keep universities in operation; we are the university.
“Employers must now recognize that imposing a 1.4%salary prize, when inflation is still increasing, is a significant salary cut and an insult to worker higher education staff.
“It's time for them to return to the table with an improved offer that resolves this dispute and avoids the need for a strike and possible industrial action.”
Raj Jethwa, executive director of the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), said: “Our sector and their students will be concerned about another vote generated by the union for industrial action.
“The UCU Higher Education Committee (HEC) made this decision more than a week ago, informing its members and institutions today.
“EIS, Gmb, Unite and Unison, will also proceed with the legal ballots for industrial action.
“It is palpably clear that the institutions of the sector have cannot be allowed to improve the elevation.
“The sector is dealing with reduced income due to a decrease in students abroad, the increase in the costs of the employer's contributions to the teachers' pension plan and an increase of more than £ 370 million in contributions from the employer's national insurance.
“UCEA has already begun to deliver the other elements of our wide range of final payment. This included progress in our proposals for joint work with unions to further reduce salary gaps and promote good practices in the types of contracts and workload.
“Employers take these problems extremely seriously. But they also seriously take the threat of industrial action and will have measures to mitigate the impact on students.”
