WINCHESTER University staff are set for a second day of strike action on Tuesday December 3, their unions announced today.

UNISON, Unite and the University and College Union that took strike action on October 31 confirmed their members would walk out again in three weeks unless the pay dispute is resolved.

Union members are angry at a one per cent offer, when they say their pay has fallen in real-terms by 13 per cent.

The squeeze on staff pay comes at a time when pay and benefits for university leaders increased, on average, by more than £5,000 in 2011-12, with the average pay and pensions package for vice-chancellors hitting almost £250,000.

Winchester University vice chancellor Joy Carter was paid £195,000 in 2012, up from £177,000 in 2011.

UNISON head of higher education, Jon Richards, said: “Members have had enough. It is a disgrace that universities are sitting on billions of pounds, but are not ready to reward those who make UK universities the best in the world. The pay rise on offer is an insult to the services they deliver especially those staff who are currently paid below the Living Wage. We have the ridiculous situation where a university vice-chancellor can spend £1.5 million on a work of art, but not give decent pay to his own staff. We are calling on employers to get back into talks as a matter of urgency.”