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.
Read our blog here:
More money than ever for buildings, while threatening compulsory redundancies
We, as a Union, do not think this is acceptable and are preparing to fight.
Our industrial action ballot is now out; succeeding in the ballot gives us legal permission to fight. But we need resources to fight too. Resources to support people to take industrial action.
Our appeal
We are asking you now to help us build our resources to support those who stand up on all our behalf. Replenishing our kitty now 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.
Today we are launching a new Hardship and Fighting Fund campaign. Rather than asking for a one-off donation, in this campaign we are asking you to make a commitment to a smaller, sustainable contribution over a period of 6 to 12 months:
£3.50 per month – equivalent to the HMRC tax relief for union dues for a Grade 6
£10 per month – for the 10% cuts being imposed
£15 per month – providing 3 weeks of food for a guaranteed hours member of staff to strike (£15 x 6 months = £90, about £30/week for food)
£20 per month – for the £20k pay rise Peter Mathieson gave himself this year
Other
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!)
Through the Hardship and Fighting Fund campaign, we want to raise £100k. That is about equal to 835 people donating £10 per month for the next 12 months. We are asking you to set up an ongoing monthly standing order to support your fellow colleagues in our collective fight.
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.
Prizes!
As a bonus to thank you for contributing, members who sign up to give on an ongoing basis will each receive a commemorative badge and will be entered in a raffle for various prizes. Our prize stash consists of 8 bottles of wine (each to be raffled separately) and a hand-crocheted scarf. We plan to add to this hoard so that as many people as possible have a chance at winning something! Another way of contributing to this fundraiser, then, would be to donate a raffle prize – things like gift vouchers to restaurants, artwork, crafts or anything you like (please just make sure it’s practical and easily deliverable!)
There will be an option for members to be entered for non-alcoholic prizes only if they prefer.
Forms
If you are able to donate, we ask that you fill out this brief form for administrative purposes and to let us know if you’d like to receive a badge and/or be entered in the raffle:
Hardship and Fighting Fund donations
If you have something you’d like to donate to the raffle, please fill out this form:
Raffle prize donations
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!