LECTURERS at the University of York and York St John University College will go on strike next week in a dispute over pay.

Lecturers, researchers and academic staff at the two establishments have confirmed strike action followed by an examination and assessment boycott will now go ahead on Tuesday.

The strike means thousands of students could be left with coursework unmarked, lectures and seminars cancelled, and their exam programmes thrown into chaos.

Members of the Association of University Teachers (AUT), which represents 48,000 academics across the UK, voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action and also for "action short of a strike", which may include assessment boycotts.

At York St John there are about 130 staff in the National Association of Teachers in Further and Higher Education (NATFHE) and the AUT, who are expected to strike on the day.

At the university, the AUT represents 720 lecturers, researchers, librarians, administrators and other professionals, from an academic body of about 1,000.

On the day, classes and lectures will be cancelled, and AUT members in support services, such as library and computing, have been asked not to work that day.

The AUT plans to picket all main entrances at the university's Heslington campus and also Kings Manor, in York city centre, from 8am.

The strike will be immediately followed by an assessment boycott, which will continue until further notice.

The AUT said academic pay has declined by 40 per cent in relative terms over the past 20 years, and the union wants its members' pay brought into line with equivalent professionals.

Currently, PhD-qualified researchers at the University of York start on £18,500 and a professor gets £44,000, but the union said there is little opportunity for salary increases, where as school teachers' salaries start at £18,558, and rise to £33,978.

The union argues that additional government funding - plus the extra billions of pounds from controversial top-up fees - means employers can now afford to sort out staff pay.

They have claimed the employers have reneged on public promises to use the new funding to improve pay.

The AUT balloted academics, librarians and academic-related staff in old universities, and 64 per cent voted for strike action while 81 per cent voted for "action short of a strike".

Dr Simon Parker, York AUT vice-president said: "Teaching will resume as normal on Wednesday, but the duration of the dispute will depend on the response of the employers who have yet to make a formal offer.

"The employers have requested a meeting on March 28 at which they say they will make an offer, but the union cannot understand why they do not communicate this offer immediately if they wish to avoid disruption across the UK's higher education sector."

Updated: 10:07 Saturday, March 04, 2006