Thousands of university staff are to be balloted for strikes in a dispute over pay.

The University and College Union (UCU) said 65,000 of its members working in universities across the UK will vote in the coming weeks on whether to launch a campaign of industrial action.

The union said employers had refused to increase a 1.4% pay offer.

The UCU said it has started preparations for an aggregated UK-wide ballot of its members, covering 138 institutions, which it expects to open on October 20.

It warned of co-ordinated industrial action with other unions representing university staff in the new year.

UCU general secretary Jo Grady said: “University employers are now on notice that we will launch a UK-wide pay ballot with the potential for co-ordinated strike action that will cause maximum disruption on campus.

“Our members, not vice-chancellors, are the people who support students, create teaching materials, conduct world-leading research and keep universities running; we are the university.

“Employers now need to recognise that imposing a 1.4% pay award, when inflation is still soaring, is a significant real-terms pay cut and an insult to hard-working higher education staff.

“It’s time for them to come back to the table with an improved offer that will settle this dispute and avoid the need for a strike ballot and potential industrial action.”

Raj Jethwa, chief executive of the University and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), said: “Our sector and its students will be concerned about yet another trade union-generated ballot for industrial action.

“UCU’s Higher Education Committee (HEC) took this decision over a week ago, informing their members and HE institutions today.

“EIS, GMB, Unite and Unison, will also be proceeding with statutory ballots for industrial action.

“It is palpably clear that the sector’s HE institutions cannot afford to improve the uplift.

“The sector is grappling with reduced income because of a decline in overseas students, increased costs for employer contributions to the Teachers’ Pension Scheme and an increase of over £370 million in employer National Insurance Contributions.

“UCEA has already begun to deliver on the other elements of our extensive final pay offer. This included progress on our proposals for joint work with the unions to further reduce pay gaps, and to promote good practice on contract types and workload.

“Employers take these issues extremely seriously. But they also take seriously the threat of industrial action and will have measures in place to mitigate the impact on students.”

Jaguar Land Rover’s (JLR) UK factories are now expected to remain closed until at least Wednesday after work was disrupted by a cyber attack just over a week ago.

The car plants at Halewood and Solihull and its Wolverhampton engine facility, along with production facilities in Slovakia, China and India, have been unable to operate since the company fell victim to the cyber attack.

Staff who work on the production lines have been told to remain at home.

JLR shut down its IT systems in response to the attack on 31 August, in order to protect them from damage. However, this caused major disruption.

JLR says it is working around the clock to restart its networks in a controlled and safe manner, and is liaising with third party cyber security specialists and law enforcement.

Last Thursday, JLR instructed staff to stay at home until at least Tuesday as it continued to grapple with the fallout from the cyber attack.

The carmaker, which is owned by India’s Tata Motors, has not commented on reports that disruption could continue for several weeks.

Under normal circumstances, the company builds about 1,000 cars a day. The production stoppage has had a significant impact on the company’s suppliers, with some understood to have told their own staff not to come into work.

As well as forcing the factories to stop building cars, it also left dealerships unable to register new cars and garages that maintain JLR vehicles unable to order the parts they needed – although it is understood workarounds have since been put in place.

The attack began at what is traditionally a popular time for consumers to take delivery of new vehicles. The latest batch of new registration plates became available on Monday, 1 September.

Last week, Shaun Adams, who manages car parts supplier Qualplast, told the BBC that a lengthy shutdown would be “concerning” for the business.

“If this starts progressing over weeks, then we would have to seriously look at what we need to future-proof.”

A group of young hackers who have been behind other attacks on UK businesses including M&S earlier this year have also claimed responsibility for the JLR attack.

Within days of the attack, the group of English-speaking hackers bragged about it on messaging app Telegram.

One security expert speculated that screenshots shared by the suggested the criminals gained access to information they should not have.

It is understood the group was trying to extort money from the firm. JLR told the BBC last week it was aware of the claims and was investigating.