#UCUStrike: Precarious Workers Fund

#UCUStrike: Precarious Staff Fund Top-up This top-up strike fund has been set up for staff in SSPSSR at the University of Kent and is separate from UCU hardship and strike funds. Please also donate to our sister funds run by the English, law and psychology departments at Kent. We have built this campaign to make sure that those staff who live on the most precarious and insecure contracts, are the worst paid and have the least amount of rights, are still able to enact their right to strike. Why you should support #UCUStrike Student fees are going up, revenue from university buildings is at a record high and yet the position of teaching and academic staff is getting worse and worse. The time has come to take action, not just to fight for our pensions, but to support each other and for a future vision of university education that is focussed on learning rather than branding. The University and Colleges Union (UCU) have planned escalating strike action over 14 days starting 22nd February.  Why do we need a top-up fund? While the union has a strike hardship fund of up to £50 per day there is a huge swathe of Hourly Paid Lecturers (HPLs), Assistant and Associate Lecturers (AALs), Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs), part-time and fixed term staff who are in an incredibly precarious position. Staff with these contracts will be under severe financial hardship due to the length of the strike, and the hard-line position taken by management around pay deductions.  For an HPL or AAL, each hour of lost teaching equates to a devastating loss of funds that they will not be able to recoup in the coming non-teaching months (April- September). Their March pay packet may be slim, but the June one will be much slimmer. We need your support so that strikers can still feed their kids, meet the rent or pay for transport in a few months time.  Who will benefit from your donation? We will prioritise AALs, HPLs & GTAs from SSPSSR, portioning a fair amount to everyone who applies according to percentage of loss.  Any left over funds will be pooled with other schools to assist where it can.  Please give what you can.  In solidarity.