STAFF at Queen's and Ulster University will today embark on 10 days of strike action over pension and pay cuts.
Lecturers and support staff are staging walkouts as part of a UK-wide action across third-level campuses - action which is estimated to impact on one million students.
It is not clear how many lectures will will be cancelled as union members do not have to inform their university in advance if they will strike.
Open University staff in Northern Ireland will also take part in walkouts for 12 days.
The University and College Union (UCU), the body representing university employees, confirmed 44 institutions across Britain and the north will take to the picket lines this week over "devastating" pension cuts as well as "deteriorating pay and working conditions".
A further 24 university campuses will join the strike next week.
The union criticised employers for refusing to withdraw cuts to the Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) or accept its compromise proposals, which they say would have led to staff and employers pay slightly more to protect benefits.
The pay issue dispute centres on a 20 per cent 'real terms' cut over the past 12 years at a time when lecturers say they are tackling "unmanageable workloads, pay inequality and the use of exploitative and insecure contracts".
It is not known how many staff will take part in the strike in the north. The UCU has hundreds of members in Queen's and Ulster University.
The trade union warned there may be a boycott of marking and assessment later in the term if the dispute was not resolved.
The UCU previously took 14 days of strike action in February 2020 and eight days in November and December 2019.
Universities UK (UUK), an umbrella body representing many universities, has previously said the UCU strikes are not representative of the views of most staff.
