UCU: UCU: funding our fighting union

Motion

Motion text: Congress notes:
1. UCU has faced down aggressive and increasingly intransigent employer behaviour
2. We must continue to fight for jobs, pay, terms and conditions
3. Increasing calls on the UCU Fighting Fund, which provides vital support to members taking strike action and ASOS
4. Continuing efforts of UCU to support the fighting fund beyond normal parameters
5. Casualised members can experience hardship due to the delay between wage deductions and payments from the Fighting Fund.
Congress agrees to:
a. Simplify and widely publicise an opt-in regular solidarity direct debit donation: to encourage joining and existing members to contribute a monthly amount affordable to them, to the Fighting Fund
b. Establish an NEC sub-committee to work with SORG, to specifically review Rule 11 and consult with members, to recommend Rule Change(s) to Congress 2023 to ensure our levy mechanisms are progressive and flexible
c. Establish a UCU Fundraising group, comprising volunteers from NEC and self-nominated volunteers from the wider membership with fundraising experience, to organise programmes of regular fundraisers online / in-person.
d. Assist branches to set up local funds to support our most financially vulnerable members by producing model guidelines to share best practice.
e. Instruct the NEC to review our processes to make the Fighting Fund more responsive and accessible to casualised members.