University staff are set to join picket lines today as part of a two-day national walkout over pay.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) at three universities in Kent are taking part in the industrial action.

They will picket from 8am at the Jarman building at the University of Kent at Canterbury; at the North Holmes Road campus at Canterbury Christ Church University and at two sites at the University of the Creative Arts.

Staff will also work to rule - refusing to carry out overtime work, set additional work or take part in any voluntary duties.

A spokesman for the union said if no agreement is reached in the next few weeks, members will escalate the action to include targeting open days and graduation ceremonies in June and July.

The union is also beginning preparations for a boycott of the setting and marking of students’ work.

The dispute follows a pay offer of 1.1% from the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA).

The union said staff had taken a real terms pay cut of 14.5% since 2009.

Regional official, Mike Moran, said: "A 1.1% pay offer is particularly insulting when we know vice-chancellors have had over 6%.

"After years of pay restraint and constant demands to do more for less, staff have said enough is enough.

"Industrial action which impacts on students is never taken lightly, but members feel that they have been left with no alternative.

Two thirds (65%) of members who voted backed strike action and three-quarters (77%) voted for action short of a strike.