UCU 2019 Strike: Emergency Fund (POLIR)
Donation protected
The University and Colleges Union Strike Action at the University of Kent
Academic and professional staff who are members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the University of Kent are striking from Monday 25 November to Wednesday 3 December 2019. This industrial action is part of a nation-wide strike involving 56 universities across the country. Here at the University of Kent, we are striking over job security / casualization, workload, equality and pay. On a turn-out of over 50%, nearly 75% of UCU members cast their vote for a strike.
Across UK universities, the bulk of teaching is increasingly delivered by a growing group of exploited staff on insecure contracts with work-loads so heavy that they struggle to complete their doctorates or find it impossible to put themselves in a position to secure more stable employment. On top of this, persistent sub-inflation pay rises has seen university employees endure a 20 per cent pay cut in real terms across the last ten years, nine out of ten universities pay the average male employee more than the average female employee, 70% of researchers and 37,000 teaching staff are on fixed term contracts, and 78% of staff work more hours than they are paid to do their jobs properly (source).
While wages and working conditions have been screwed down, senior management has seen vast increases in their pay packets while universities have invested heavily in capital spending and infrastructure. But neither senior management nor fancy new buildings deliver an education: only well-remunerated staff in secure employment with good working conditions can do that. The working conditions of staff are the learning decisions of students. The decision to strike is never taken lightly, and the fact that university staff are striking indicates how strongly committed they are to improving the quality of working life and education at Britain’s universities.
What is this fund for?
This fund is to support striking staff in the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR) at the University of Kent, and especially those staff on temporary contracts (hourly-paid lecturers – HPLs). For all staff but especially poorly paid and casual stuff, the pay deductions resulting from strike action means that paying for necessities such as rent, energy bills, child care and food will be that much more difficult, and sometimes even impossible.
Hourly paid lecturers and graduate teaching assistants are undervalued and underpaid, yet without them the university would not function. In defending their interests as well as the future of higher education through strike action they place themselves in an even more precarious situation due to the intransigence of university management. This emergency fund has been set up to off-set the costs of the industrial action for striking staff.
How will the funds be distributed?
Funds will be distributed proportionally and according to need, prioritizing the needs of precarious and poorly paid staff.
Who is eligible?
The fund will be open to all UCU members employed at the School of Politics and International Relations who have already applied for UCU strike funds and have experienced hardship as a result of the strike. Applicants will need to show 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?
Any funds that are not distributed to striking staff in SPIR will be donated to the hardship fund of the UCU branch at the University of Kent. For more information, see here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/fightingfund
Last year we raised enough to cover all applications to the PolIR Strike Fund from casualised members of staff, and donated an additional £1,499.49 of the total to the UCU Hardship Fund. We will keep donors updated throughout the process.
You can find details of other UKC departmental fundraisers here: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/ucuuok/2019/11/25/strike-go-fund-me/
Please give what you can.
In solidarity, and with thanks.
HPLs, GTAs, and other colleagues (POLIR)
Academic and professional staff who are members of the University and College Union (UCU) at the University of Kent are striking from Monday 25 November to Wednesday 3 December 2019. This industrial action is part of a nation-wide strike involving 56 universities across the country. Here at the University of Kent, we are striking over job security / casualization, workload, equality and pay. On a turn-out of over 50%, nearly 75% of UCU members cast their vote for a strike.
Across UK universities, the bulk of teaching is increasingly delivered by a growing group of exploited staff on insecure contracts with work-loads so heavy that they struggle to complete their doctorates or find it impossible to put themselves in a position to secure more stable employment. On top of this, persistent sub-inflation pay rises has seen university employees endure a 20 per cent pay cut in real terms across the last ten years, nine out of ten universities pay the average male employee more than the average female employee, 70% of researchers and 37,000 teaching staff are on fixed term contracts, and 78% of staff work more hours than they are paid to do their jobs properly (source).
While wages and working conditions have been screwed down, senior management has seen vast increases in their pay packets while universities have invested heavily in capital spending and infrastructure. But neither senior management nor fancy new buildings deliver an education: only well-remunerated staff in secure employment with good working conditions can do that. The working conditions of staff are the learning decisions of students. The decision to strike is never taken lightly, and the fact that university staff are striking indicates how strongly committed they are to improving the quality of working life and education at Britain’s universities.
What is this fund for?
This fund is to support striking staff in the School of Politics and International Relations (SPIR) at the University of Kent, and especially those staff on temporary contracts (hourly-paid lecturers – HPLs). For all staff but especially poorly paid and casual stuff, the pay deductions resulting from strike action means that paying for necessities such as rent, energy bills, child care and food will be that much more difficult, and sometimes even impossible.
Hourly paid lecturers and graduate teaching assistants are undervalued and underpaid, yet without them the university would not function. In defending their interests as well as the future of higher education through strike action they place themselves in an even more precarious situation due to the intransigence of university management. This emergency fund has been set up to off-set the costs of the industrial action for striking staff.
How will the funds be distributed?
Funds will be distributed proportionally and according to need, prioritizing the needs of precarious and poorly paid staff.
Who is eligible?
The fund will be open to all UCU members employed at the School of Politics and International Relations who have already applied for UCU strike funds and have experienced hardship as a result of the strike. Applicants will need to show 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?
Any funds that are not distributed to striking staff in SPIR will be donated to the hardship fund of the UCU branch at the University of Kent. For more information, see here: https://www.ucu.org.uk/fightingfund
Last year we raised enough to cover all applications to the PolIR Strike Fund from casualised members of staff, and donated an additional £1,499.49 of the total to the UCU Hardship Fund. We will keep donors updated throughout the process.
You can find details of other UKC departmental fundraisers here: https://blogs.kent.ac.uk/ucuuok/2019/11/25/strike-go-fund-me/
Please give what you can.
In solidarity, and with thanks.
HPLs, GTAs, and other colleagues (POLIR)
Organizer
Rob Wilson
Organizer
