Details of the Fund 

Cardiff UCU Branch has established a local fund to help those suffering particular financial hardship due to loss of pay arising from UCU industrial action. 

“Particular hardship” means that the member is low-paid (such as on a small fractional contract or hourly paid equivalent) and/or that the action disproportionately affects them (for example, they have been participating in the Marking and Assessment Boycott for an extended period, or a strike is on the only day(s) that they work or covers the majority of their hours). 

While the loss of income through striking affects everyone, those who are already in very financially insecure situations are the worst hit, and these people will be prioritised – e.g. hourly-paid workers; postgraduates who teach/demonstrate.

The Cardiff UCU Fighting Fund is designed as a safety net for local members and is intended to augment the UCU National Fighting Fund by allowing members to claim towards loss of income for the first day of action which the National Fund does not cover, or in cases where it is not applicable (deductions of less than 100% for ASOS). 

Please be aware that the local fighting fund is a limited pot of money – for which we are already fundraising and will continue to fundraise throughout the action – and we cannot guarantee to reimburse you for the full amount that you have lost. 

If you wish to donate to the fund you can do so by direct bank transfer, or set up a regular standing order, to: 

Account Name: UCU Cardiff LA12 Fighting Fund
Sort code: 60-83-01 
Account no: 20341260 

Or send a cheque (payable to “UCU Cardiff LA12 Fighting Fund”) to: 

Cardiff UCU
49b Park Place 
Cardiff 
CF10 3AT  

The national rules are as follows in order to better protect casually employed and lower-paid members: 

• those of you earning below £30,000 will be able to claim up to £75 per day from the second day onwards; 
• those of you earning £30,000 or more will be able to claim up to £50 from the second day onwards. 

Details of the national fund can be found on the national UCU strike fund page. 

Understanding your strike deductions 

View this page for information about how to check your strike deductions.

Cardiff UCU Fighting Fund 

The Cardiff UCU fighting fund applies to the first one day of strike action taken by the member (i.e. your first day – this might not be the first day of the action). The National UCU fighting fund will cover the remaining days. 

Applications from members on all pay grades will be considered although priority will be given to: 

• those who are casually employed or on part-time contracts; 
• those on lower grades (Grade 6 or lower) 

If you are a PGR who teaches, make sure that you have upgraded from “student” to “standard free” membership. It only take a minute, and is still FREE while you’re studying. You can update your membership online.  

Members who continue to suffer disproportionate fighting are eligible to submit further applications to the Cardiff UCU Fighting Fund although we reserve the right to seek information on support received from the National Fighting Fund and we may ask you for additional evidence of hardship. 

Evidence 

Where staff are paid on a regular monthly basis and the strike pay is indicated as a loss on the pay slip, this will be the evidence required.

The evidence required for hourly-paid staff who submit monthly timesheets for the hours they have worked will be: the time sheets that have been submitted during the boycott / strike period, and a timetable or email showing that they were scheduled to teach or mark. In addition, please provide a recent pay slip for a period unaffected by strike action. 

Please note that PhD funding is not affected by your decision to take action. 

Payment 

After looking at communications from the university the branch understands that it is likely that the first payments will be deducted by them at the end of February (1^st -10^th Feb strike dates), the second payments at the end of March (14^th Feb – 2^nd March) and the third payments end of April (16^th – 22^nd March).

The branch needs evidence of loss of pay, therefore staff cannot apply before they have had pay deducted – so those taking strike action in February will not be able to apply until the end of February and so on.

How to Apply to the Cardiff UCU Fighting Fund 

1. Ensure you read and familiarise yourself with the eligibility requirements and terms and conditions set out below. 

2. Download the Application Form for the Cardiff UCU Fighting Fund. 

3. Send the completed application form with supporting pay slips or timesheets (see Pt 9 below) to fightingfund@cardiffucu.onmicrosoft.com

• You can access PDF copies of your payslip from Core HR. 

• If you cannot locate your membership number, please email membership@ucu.org.uk. 

4. If approved, funds will be made by bank transfer to the account stated in the application. 

5. We aim to process all applications as soon as possible following the deductions from salary / non-payment of missed work. 

Applying to the UCU National Fighting Fund 

Do not delay your application to the national fund until you have received payment from the local fund. If you are claiming for more than the first 1 day of strike action then submit a claim to the National UCU Fund by logging into MyUCU and clicking on the ‘Fighting Fund’ tab. 

Eligibility 

1. To be eligible to make a claim against the Fund, you must meet the following criteria:  

• Be a current and fully paid up member of the UCU. 
• Be paying the correct subscription rate. 
• Have taken part in the industrial action called by the Union. 

• To have been deducted pay from the University on each day of action in which you have participated. 
• Be able to supply a PDF or scanned copy, of your pay slip(s) showing the gross amount of pay deducted in respect of each day’s participation in the action, or other evidence showing loss such as that stated below. 

2. Members unable to demonstrate loss of pay from relevant payslips can include: your teaching timetable; letters/emails from the School confirming your teaching times or other documentation confirming appointment and the time sheets submitted to your School for the period of the action. 

3. Claims not accompanied by payslip(s) showing the deductions or other supporting documentation will be rejected. 

4. A claim arising from this dispute will only be paid if it is received within 3 months after the date of loss of pay. 

5. No claim can be met for members who are in arrears of subscriptions or for those who are not paying the correct level of subscription based on their earnings. 

6. If you have selected “yes” to the special circumstances button on the claim form we may ask you for additional evidence. 

7. Please ensure that you enter correctly all the bank details as we may not be able to recover any payments sent to an incorrect bank account and, if that occurs, we regret it may not be possible to make a further payment from the Fund to recompense for the mis-directed payment. 

Terms and Conditions 

1. In no case will payments from combined applications to UCU accredited funds be made in excess of your actual total loss of income. The pro-rata principle will be applied where appropriate for part-time staff. 

2. Member who continue to suffer disproportionate hardship are eligible to submit further applications to the Cardiff UCU Fighting Fund although we reserve the right to seek information on support received from the National Fighting Fund and we may ask you for additional evidence of hardship. 

3. All claims are at the discretion of the Cardiff UCU Fighting Fund Assessment Panel. The Panel reserves the right not to meet a claim if it is not satisfied about the eligibility of the claimant, the details of the claim itself or the supporting evidence. 

4. As the fund is finite there may be a cap placed on payments. We reserve the right to withhold decisions relating to claims from staff at higher grades until the full extent of applications received has been assessed. 

5. If you need to contact us, please email fightingfund@cardiffucu.onmicrosoft.com