Tag: Hardship Fund

UCU Warwick has established a local hardship fund from branch reserves and external donations to offer financial support to those experiencing hardship as a result of industrial action. A full description of the principles of the fund is available here.

Note: This is the hardship fund claim form for weeks 1 and 2 of the strike. If you want to make claims for weeks 3 and 4 instead, use this form.

Salaried and hourly paid staff not experiencing hardship or with access to significant secondary income should apply to the National Fighting Fund .

At present we are focussing on the first two weeks of strike action. If funds permit, we may be able to extend it for subsequent strike weeks.

UCU Warwick will also support claims to the National Fighting Fund from STP/VAM staff in weeks 3 & 4 should the local hardship fund be unable to offer support. Details will be made available here soon.

The deadline for applying for the hardship fund including all evidence, regarding the first two weeks of strike, is SUNDAY 1 APRIL. The tight deadline is to ensure that we can make payments as soon as possible but avoid a first come, first serve scenario, enabling fair treatment. No final decisions on reimbursement will be made before that deadline. However, if  If you need funds urgently please contact treasurer@warwickucu.org.uk with details
of your circumstances and we will try to assist.

For applying to the fund, please fill in the form below or download this word version and return it to the Treasurer with the necessary evidence at treasurer@warwickucu.org.uk

At this stage we are unable to confirm the value or timing of hardship payments but it is likely they will not
exceed £250 per member. If you need funds urgently please contact treasurer@warwickucu.org.uk with details
of your circumstances and we will try to assist.

This post was for the 2018 USS Strikes.  We will update the strike pages with more information for 2019 shortly!

Applications

Applications to the fund can be made here for weeks 3 and 4 of the strike , and here for weeks 1 and 2. For the policies and procedures of the hardship fund, see below. If you are on a STP or VAM contract, please read carefully what evidence to provide (we know it’s a pain, but for us assessing the claims too)

Donations

Warwick UCU has decided to set up a local hardship fund. The branch has donated funds to this, but we are also seeking donations from members. We are particularly directing this appeal for donations to our members who are either on leave or who are otherwise not expected to be part of the action.

The local Hardship fund is designed to complement the provision from the National Fighting Fund, and where possible to fill in any potential “gaps”. It will prioritise members on hourly paid and other precarious contracts, and support people who would be left financially vulnerable after deductions. The policies and procedures can be found below.

Please direct non-members to this page which asks if they can make a small donation to support their Union colleagues to protect the pension scheme that they are also part of.

Donations can be received by bank transfer or cheque.

For bank transfer the account details are:

 Please quote the reference: “Hardship Fund”

It would be helpful to also send a remittance advice to treasurer@warwickucu.org.uk  confirming the amount and the name of the donor(s) so we can have a record

Or by Cheque

Please make cheques payable to “UCU Warwick” and send to Treasurer, UCU Office, Avon Building WA1.12, University of Warwick, Coventry, CV4 7AL.

Policies and procedures of the hardship fund

Warwick UCU Strike committee has decided on 21/02 on the following principles of policies and procedures.

– UPDATE – We have now opened the fund for applications for weeks 3 and 4, too. Please be aware, however, that we must apply a maximum limit of payments of £500 overall, same as the national strike fund, except in exceptional circumstances.

• The local hardship fund will prioritise those whose annual incomes will be particularly proportionally affected by taking strike action, especially hourly paid tutors or those on other precarious contracts. Applications from those who do not have access to substantial forms of other, non-affected income (e.g. scholarships) will be prioritised.
• The fund will aim to interpret national rules and limits flexibly so as to make them as responsive as possible to members’ circumstances. This includes: paying strike pay from the 1st day of strike action; and interpreting flexibly the rule of a £50 cap per strike day. This will be interpreted to mean that each day where the strike occurs and where no work has been undertaken, will be treated as a strike day, independent of whether there was formal work scheduled on these days.

For example: a tutor who only has classes scheduled on a Friday, who would earn £150 on a Friday as their only weekly income and loses this as a result of striking on that day, would therefore be able to apply for up to £150 if they have participated in the strike on the days from Thursday to Monday (i.e. £50 for each day of strike participation).

These amounts (£50 X number of days of strike participation) are the maximum amounts to which members can apply for; however, there is no guarantee that we will be able to pay those full amounts. That will depend on the amount of claims received and funds available.

• We are trying our best to raise funds, but if the fund resources should remain low, the hardship fund will concentrate its funding on the first two weeks of strike action (and to a maximum of £250 per person; and we will then support members’ applications to the national fighting fund for the remainder of the strike duration.
• There will be no first come first serve handout for payments, but a deadline for claims advertised that will ensure fair treatment, while it will be possible to get urgent treatment. However, it is very likely that no payments can be made before the University has made payments and losses can be shown.

To apply, follow this link for weeks 3 and 4, and  this link for weeks 1 and 2.