The head of the body that represents UK university employers has insisted that he remains optimistic that the sector can avoid perpetual industrial action despite facing the prospect of more strikes this autumn.
Unions representing higher education workers are balloting members on whether to walk out again, potentially stretching the long-running disputes into a fifth year.
Alongside enduring concerns over pension cuts, insecure contracts and workloads, the University and College Union (UCU) and Unison have rejected a pay rise offer of 3 per cent, rising to 9 per cent for those on the lowest salaries.
