We aim to find a simple and unbureaucratic way to support those in the School of Physics who participate in the Marking & Assessment boycott to make ends meet. For many, a 50% cut in pay sustained over weeks or even months is too much to bear.
If everybody gave 10% of their take-home income, 2-3 colleagues not participating in the MAB can support one colleague taking action. This is because a 50% pay-cut for 5 working days out of 7 week days corresponds to a 36% cut averaged over the week. We are co-ordinating our targeted approach throughout the school. Contact us on advice whether it is more effective to donate or to take action yourself. If you are not a UCU member, your support would be much appreciated.
Our aim
o Support all colleagues in the School of Physics who participate in the MAB to mitigate the massive punitive pay reduction threatened by the management.
o Do so unbureaucratically and fast.
o Implement a targeted approach to maximise the impact of the MAB, while minimising the impact of the management's punitive pay deductions.
Q&A:
Q: How much should I pay in?
A: How-ever much you can afford. We are trying to support colleagues who will suffer a 50% pay reduction, so some fraction of your income smaller than that.
Q: How much do you pay out?
A: We aim to pay £30 for each day of 50% pay deduction, i.e. £150 per week. If we have less money, we pay a smaller amount, and colleagues might have to stop taking part in the MAB.
Q: What if you get have left-over funds?
In the very unlikely event we have more money, we will pay up to the actual pay lost. And in the very very unlikely event any is left over after the end of the MAB in physics, we donate the rest to the UCU hardship fund.
Q: Why not go via the UCU hardship fund or fighting fund.
A: These don't seem to be set up for this situation. E.g. the UCU fighting fund currently only covers the situation where 100% of pay is deducted. More generally, by restricting this to a smaller group of colleagues we believe we can be less bureaucratic and more flexible than the UCU funds. We still encourage you to donate to the hardship fund.
Q: Why does this fundraiser run only for 4 weeks?
A: For technical reasons - we'll start a follow-up one once this one closes. Note you can set up regular donations that would continue beyond the end of this fund raiser, which we would continue to receive and distribute on a monthly basis beyond the 4-week timeline of this fund raiser.