Hello UCU membership at LBU,

Did you know there is financial help for those who experience hardship as a result of taking strike action?

Thinking you can’t afford to strike? Think again… you can’t afford not to!

  • The 5% pay offer made recently is not enough! Your pay has fallen by 25% since 2009
  • During Covid-19 your employers stole 35% of your pension
  • 90,000 staff in UK HE are on insecure contracts; those on ‘permanent’ contracts are threatened with cuts every year
  • You work 2 days for free every week! The level of work is unsuitable and can lead to illness and early retirement
  • You may feel you are doing OK financially and do not need to strike, so stand with public service workers across the nation and support them in their fight to get a living wage and decent working conditions – we need them! Enough is Enough!
  • We have an opportunity to win – let’s not throw it away. Our Branch has grown by 10% since this dispute began. If we miss this opportunity, we may all be on insecure tenure as it is in the US where casualisation is the norm.

We know this is strike action is tough to take, and we will all be out of pocket to some extent but striking should not mean hardship, and if you know you will struggle financially if you exercise your democratic right to strike, there is help. You can apply to ONE or BOTH of the funds below:

  • UCU national Hardship Fund
    • Apply for hardship funds here
    • You can claim £75 for the first strike day and £50 for each day after.
  • UCU Local Hardship Fund
    • Apply by contacting LBU UCU
    • You can claim £75 for the first strike day and £50 for each day after.
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