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Applying to the Hardship Fund – Scenarios

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UCU Hardship + Fighting Fund Scenarios: Members who will experience financial difficulty as a result of strike deductions have access to two sources of assistance from the union:  UCU Fighting Fund, administered by UCU HQLeeds UCU Hardship Fund, administered by Leeds UCU officers The two funds operate slightly differently. Leeds UCU has designed our local hardship fund to complement and extend available support.  The following scenarios illustrate the ways in which our Local Hardship Fund and UCU Fighting Fund work together, and should help members resolve most queries they have about these schemes. Please also read the wording of the [motion] we passed at the 3 December General Meeting which explains how the UCU Fighting Fund and the Local Hardship Fund work. Additional guidance (to be taken in conjunction with advice on this page) is [here] and [here]. What can I claim from each fund? Remember we have designed our local Hardship Fund to complement the UCU Fighting Fund.  UCU Fighting Fund:  UCU Fighting Fund for members earning under £30k: The UCU Fighting Fund allows members who earn under £30,000 per year (gross) to claim the sum of up to £75 per day, for the second and subsequent days of … continue reading

Local Hardship Fund

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At our General Meeting on 3 December we unanimously passed a motion revising the rules for our local Hardship Fund to allow us to provide greater support to members facing financial difficulties due to pay deductions for striking. The local Hardship Fund will work alongside and in addition to the UK-wide Fighting Fund. Members should apply to the Fighting Fund for support initially, except where claiming for days of strike action not covered by the Fighting Fund (day 1 for those earning less than £30,000 gross annually, days 1 and 2 for those earning more than £30,000 gross annually). The local Hardship Fund will the supplement the UK-wide Fighting Fund, or provide support where the UK-wide Fighting Fund cannot. The new rules mean that the Hardship Fund: Will comply with the appended guidance from UCU to ensure continued solvency of the branch, and that the branch is able to continue to meet all its usual commitments for and on behalf of members;Will be managed by local branch officers a panel of at least three elected branch officers, including the Treasurer;Will prioritise members in precarious, low paid work, as per national and local priorities;Will also prioritise members who can demonstrate that … continue reading

International staff survey

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UCU University of Leeds international staff surveyPlease promote this link to international colleagues at University of Leeds, whether or not they have joined UCU yet. We’re delighted to announce the launch of our International Staff Survey. By international staff we refer to both EU and non EU academic, academic related and postgraduates who do paid teaching for the university. We would like to encourage all international staff to please fill out the anonymous survey and get in contact with us if you would like to take part in our international staff activism here at Leeds (contact Laura Loyola Hernandez). This survey has come out of our Equality working group lead by Dima Chami, if you are interested in joining please contact her. We would like to point out that the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, (dis)ability and being part of the LGTBQ+ community exacerbates the experiences of being international at the University of Leeds, so please include any comments at the end of the survey if relevant. You can complete the survey here: https://yoursay.ucu.org.uk/s3/leeds  It will take approximately 10 minutes to answer. Most of the questions are tick box and a free text question where you can comment on any … continue reading