Thousands of university staff have taken part in the first of a series of two-hour strikes, despite threats from many institutions that they will be deducted a day¡¯s pay for the action.

Staff at higher education institutions across the UK joined protests between 11am and 1pm today. Further temporary stoppages are scheduled for 28 January and 6 February.

The latest round of industrial action by University and College Union members follows two one-day strikes in October and December over this year¡¯s 1 per cent pay offer, which unions have branded ¡°miserly¡±, though the former stoppages took place in conjunction with Unison and Unite, who did not join the latest strike.

Jennifer Fraser, joint president of Birkbeck, University of London¡¯s UCU branch, who was manning a picket line outside the college¡¯s Bloomsbury campus, said she was pleased with the turnout and support from students.

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¡°Different people have been out on strike this time and we¡¯ve had lots of interesting conversations with students about why we¡¯re doing this,¡± said Ms Fraser.

¡°Students are paying really high fees and they want to know why their university is building up really big surpluses and what they are doing with their money,¡± Ms Fraser added.

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Staff also gathered outside the main entrance to Soas, University of London to mark the protest.

Union leaders indicated the protest was not as large as the last one-day strike, but was still substantial.

Asked if academic staff had the fight for a drawn-out series of strikes, Meera Sabaratnam, lecturer in international relations, said: ¡°We hope so.¡±

¡°The turnout could be better. It¡¯s more difficult [to stage a strike within] academia, but many support the principle,¡± she added.

However, other union branches reported higher turnouts than at last year¡¯s walkouts.

There was much anger at threats by many institutions to withhold an entire day¡¯s pay from anyone who took part in the two-hour strike as it constituted ¡°partial performance¡± for the day.

The UCU has threatened to take legal action against institutions taking this stance ¨C citing a ruling involving Westminster College over the illegality of such action ¨C though employers claim that case does not apply to the ongoing situation owing to the specific circumstances of the case.

At least 40 universities ¨C including Nottingham Trent University and the University of Central Lancashire ¨C have threatened to withhold a full day¡¯s pay, the Times Higher Education understands.

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However, some institutions, including the universities of Essex and Chester, have withdrawn the threat after the UCU said it would escalate industrial action to a full day if this stance was adopted.

Other institutions have informed staff that they may deduct a full day¡¯s pay in upcoming strikes once the impact of the 23 January strike is assessed.

UCU general secretary Sally Hunt has denounced the hard-line stance by some vice-chancellors as ¡°macho games¡±.

¡°Punitive pay docking not only makes staff even angrier, but it also increases disruption for students,¡± Ms Hunt said.

¡°The baffling behaviour of some vice-chancellors to threaten to lock staff out and therefore increase disruption has more in common with 1930s Chicago than modern industrial relations,¡± she added.

The UCU has said it will make a decision on whether to escalate strike action following the completion of the three two-hour walkouts.

A spokesman for the Universities and Colleges Employers Association claimed the two-hour strikes had ¡°passed with little or no disruption¡±.

¡°Higher education institutions are reporting that the vast majority of staff understand the reality of the current financial situation and have not supported UCU¡¯s continuation of the dispute and move to action aimed at damaging student education,¡± he said.

About half of the institutions who had responded to a Ucea survey intended to withhold a full day¡¯s pay for the action, he added.

Institutions would not accept ¡°partial performance¡± and are therefore ¡°deducting pay as they deem necessary¡±, he said.

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¡°Higher education institutions hope that the lack of support shown by staff over what is now last year¡¯s general pay uplift will lead them to reconsider their campaign,¡± he said.

jack.grove@tsleducation.com