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University academics and administrative staff staged a third day of strike action yesterday in an acrimonious dispute over pay.
Members of four unions - Unite, Unison, EIS in Scotland and UCU - took part in a national walkout which hit universities across Britain.
Lectures, seminars, workshops and tutorials were cancelled or postponed as academics joined picket lines with support staff such as technicians, administrators, caterers and cleaners.
UCU general secretary Sally Hunt said: "Staff are angry they've had to endure real-terms pay cuts while those at the top continue to enjoy healthy rises."
University employers have claimed that institutions are reporting "low to no support" for the walkout.
But UCU dismissed the claim and said that there had been solid support for the action.
The dispute centres on a 1 per cent pay rise offered to university staff - including lecturers, technicians and administration workers - which the unions insist amounts to an effective 13 per cent pay cut since October 2008 in real terms.
By contrast, university vice-chancellors enjoyed an average pay rise of 5.1 per cent last year and an average salary of £235,000, the unions say.
Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: "For low-paid workers it is a very difficult choice to take strike action, so the decision to walk out for a third time shows the depth of feeling among our members.
"Hard-working staff have dealt with significant changes that increased their workloads dramatically, yet their incomes have been squeezed to breaking point."
Two one-day national strikes were staged in the autumn and UCU is holding a series of two-hour stoppages which it says is aimed at disrupting teaching.
Ms Hunt said: "It's time for fair pay for all in our universities. Taking strike action is always a last resort and we would urge any students frustrated or annoyed at the disruption to contact their vice-chancellor and ask them to put pressure on them to come back to the negotiating table with a fair pay offer."
A spokesman for the Universities and Colleges Employers Association accused the unions of "wilfully painting a misleading picture of higher education institutions' financial conditions" as part of their tactics for pay negotiations.
