Hardship and Fighting Fund Campaign
We have seen over the past months (and years) the incompetence of our senior management within the University to manage budgets and manage change. As a consequence, people’s jobs are now at risk, and many precarious staff are already facing cuts.
Peter Mathieson wants to cut 10% of our operating budget: £140 million. A disproportionate amount will come from staff cuts, with management proposing £90 million. This could result in as many as 2,000 job losses.
We as a Union do not think this is acceptable and are fighting back with all legal avenues available to us. But we need resources to fight, too — resources to support people to take industrial action.
Our appeal
Help us build our resources to support those who stand up on behalf of us all. Building up our kitty does two things:
It reassures those who have precarious finances that they can stand up to the injustices that are being inflicted on us.
It is a show of strength to senior management that we are ready for the fight, as long as it takes.
Any amount, whether £1, £5 or £50 per month, will go a long way to support our members!
(Of course, we’ll gladly accept one-off donations as well!)
We are asking you to set up an ongoing monthly standing order to support your fellow colleagues in our collective fight.
How to Donate
If you are able to donate, we ask that you fill out this brief form for administrative purposes:
Please note: filling out this form does not set up the donation from your account to ours! You will need to go to your bank account and create a standing order for your monthly donation or execute a transfer to the UCUE account for a one-off donation:
Our bank information
‘UCU Edinburgh University Hardship Fund’
Sort code: 60-83-01
Account No: 20392905
Remember, in 2023 UCU Edinburgh ran one of the most successful Marking & Assessment Boycotts (MABs) in the country, but it was not cheap. We managed thanks in no small part to our MABBackers – members who contributed a portion of their salaries to the hardship fund to help support our union comrades who lost 50% of their pay to punitive salary deductions by the university.
The Hardship and Fighting Fund needs to be maintained over the long term, especially due to the protracted labour dispute with our employer. A large number of people making smaller, sustainable donations has the potential to generate substantial sums to support our members. We believe that by asking you to commit to a minimum of 6 months of monthly donations (6 instalments) or a maximum of 12 months (12 instalments), we can achieve this goal.
PLEASE NOTE: Unlike the 2023 MABBacker campaign, we will not be offering refunds. If we are lucky enough to win without a strike, then any donations will remain in the Hardship & Fighting Fund account until needed. This is both to comply with rules governing our use of this account and also to ensure that we always have the resources to be able to support our members.
If you have any questions, send us an email at ucu@ed.ac.uk.
Together we can build our fund and go into the fight knowing we’re stronger!
Together we can win this dispute!!
Thank you for your support!!!
Claiming from the Hardship & Fighting Fund
Information will be posted here with details on how to claim from the Hardship fund (available from day 1 of industrial action) and the Hardship & Fighting Fund (available from day 3 of industrial action).