UCU Strike: Emergency Fund (POLIR)
Donation protected
The University and Colleges Union Strike Action
Academic and professional staff at 61 universities have been striking since 22nd February as part of an escalating programme of strikes over a four-week period . This time, employers are set to end guaranteed pension benefits by ‘gambling’ with our contributions. This means that our pensions will depend on the performance of this ‘investment’ rather than the contributions paid into the scheme. According to the University and Colleges Union (UCU), the new cut will take an average of £10,000 per year, and it will hit younger academics the hardest.
What is this fund for?
Precarious hourly-paid lecturers (HPLs) who are working under zero-hour contracts as well as graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) who are working on extremely slim salaries to be able to complete their PhDs, have little to no assurances about their future, and every-day of teaching hours is essential to their livelihoods. For that reason, each day of strike can translate into the inability to meet basic necessities: paying rent, childcare or food. Strike action is not a decision taken lightly: it affects students and affects people’s livelihoods. Striking is not a luxury, it is a last-option in the face of a constant erosion of workers’ rights and a sustained attack on education .
Top university managers take advantage of their precarious circumstances to break and minimize the impact from the strike action. At the same time, the pay and benefits of top university management have skyrocketed and expenditure for buildings is prioritised over students' right to an education and the people teaching them every day.
Hourly paid lecturers and graduate teaching assistants are undervalued and not paid well for their work , yet without them the university would not function. In rightfully defending their interests, higher education, and the university by taking part in strike action they place themselves in an even more precarious situation due to the actions of the university.
This emergency fund has been set up to counteract this by supporting staff in the school of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent who stand to be placed in a precarious position as a result as a result of taking strike action. This fund is inspired by similar funds set up by the department of psychology, the school of English, and Kent Law school. If you can, please consider donating to these too.
How will the funds be distributed?
We aim to distribute the funds collected in a fair way. We will distribute funds proportionally and according to need.
Who is eligible?
All UCU casualised members who have applied already for the UCU strike funds and have experienced hardship as a result of the strike. All applicants need to show is that they have applied for the hardship funds of the local and national UCU and explain in one paragraph why they are applying for these funds.
What will happen if there are unused funds?
In the event that we don't use all the money collected, we will donate the money to the UCU anti-casualisation campaign. We will send out a confirmation of this donation as well as the distribution of the funds to all donors.
Please give what you can.
In solidarity.
GTAs, HPLs, and other colleagues (POLIR)
Academic and professional staff at 61 universities have been striking since 22nd February as part of an escalating programme of strikes over a four-week period . This time, employers are set to end guaranteed pension benefits by ‘gambling’ with our contributions. This means that our pensions will depend on the performance of this ‘investment’ rather than the contributions paid into the scheme. According to the University and Colleges Union (UCU), the new cut will take an average of £10,000 per year, and it will hit younger academics the hardest.
What is this fund for?
Precarious hourly-paid lecturers (HPLs) who are working under zero-hour contracts as well as graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) who are working on extremely slim salaries to be able to complete their PhDs, have little to no assurances about their future, and every-day of teaching hours is essential to their livelihoods. For that reason, each day of strike can translate into the inability to meet basic necessities: paying rent, childcare or food. Strike action is not a decision taken lightly: it affects students and affects people’s livelihoods. Striking is not a luxury, it is a last-option in the face of a constant erosion of workers’ rights and a sustained attack on education .
Top university managers take advantage of their precarious circumstances to break and minimize the impact from the strike action. At the same time, the pay and benefits of top university management have skyrocketed and expenditure for buildings is prioritised over students' right to an education and the people teaching them every day.
Hourly paid lecturers and graduate teaching assistants are undervalued and not paid well for their work , yet without them the university would not function. In rightfully defending their interests, higher education, and the university by taking part in strike action they place themselves in an even more precarious situation due to the actions of the university.
This emergency fund has been set up to counteract this by supporting staff in the school of Politics and International Relations at the University of Kent who stand to be placed in a precarious position as a result as a result of taking strike action. This fund is inspired by similar funds set up by the department of psychology, the school of English, and Kent Law school. If you can, please consider donating to these too.
How will the funds be distributed?
We aim to distribute the funds collected in a fair way. We will distribute funds proportionally and according to need.
Who is eligible?
All UCU casualised members who have applied already for the UCU strike funds and have experienced hardship as a result of the strike. All applicants need to show is that they have applied for the hardship funds of the local and national UCU and explain in one paragraph why they are applying for these funds.
What will happen if there are unused funds?
In the event that we don't use all the money collected, we will donate the money to the UCU anti-casualisation campaign. We will send out a confirmation of this donation as well as the distribution of the funds to all donors.
Please give what you can.
In solidarity.
GTAs, HPLs, and other colleagues (POLIR)
Organizer
Rob Wilson
Organizer
