Union members at Imperial College London are set to take strike action over pay and working conditions.

The local University and College Union (UCU) branch pursued strike action after receiving a pay offer of two per cent from the university, arguing that the offer failed to keep up with inflation.?

Seventy-seven per cent of union members backed strike action on a turnout of 59 per cent.

The union said: ¡°The latest Bank of England estimates are that CPI inflation will be approximately four per cent by the end of 2025. Taken cumulatively with recent sub-inflation pay awards, management is imposing a real terms pay cut of nearly nine per cent compared to 2018.¡±

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Imperial does not partake in the national pay negotiations, which resulted in a 1.4 per cent pay offer from the employers¡¯ association. Imperial was one of five universities outside the pay negotiations to achieve a pay offer above the negotiated at the national level.

The union said it disputes claims from the university that a higher pay offer is unaffordable, instead arguing that Imperial has ¡°unusually large reserves¡± and an ?81 million operating surplus. It argued that, unlike many other institutions facing job losses, Imperial is in a strong position and planning further expansion.

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Union branches at the universities of Edinburgh, Nottingham and Leicester have all confirmed they will take strike action at the start of the new academic year in response to job cuts, while others, including Oxford Brookes and Sheffield Hallam, have said they will ballot for industrial action.

Jo Grady, general secretary of UCU, said ¡°staff are the lifeblood of the university and deserve a proper salary¡±.?

¡°Strike action is a last resort for our members but this ¡®yes¡¯ vote shows they have had enough and are prepared to fight back. We call on the university to look at again at its refusal to increase its pay offer and work with us to find a constructive path forward, or face disruption on campus at the start of the new term.¡±

Imperial College London was approached for comment.

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juliette.rowsell@timeshighereducation.com