Ucea must meet the union within seven days to seek a resolution.
Unite is the first campus union to formally respond to the 2009-10 offer, which was made by the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA) last month.
Mike Robinson, Unite national officer for education, says in a letter to Jocelyn Prudence, chief executive of Ucea, on 14 August that a consultation with members had resulted in “a massive rejection of the Ucea offer of a 0.5 per cent uplift in salary scales applicable from 1 August and overwhelming opposition to the refusal of Ucea to sign up to a formal job security/redundancy avoidance agreement, as submitted by the joint unionsâ€.