Pressure mounts on NUS as education campaigns call for fightback

Education campaigns are "demanding extra" from the NUS

The NUS needs to take action against cuts and fees, and it needs to do it now.

In the couple of weeks running up to today’s anti-cuts conference in Birmingham, statements have been released by a number of different education campaigning groups and student activists demanding Britain’s National Student Union calls for a national demonstration against the swingeing cuts to higher and further education.

Activists have also criticised an attempt by the NUS right wing, and managers from its commercial arm NUSSL to restrict an open conference discussing how to stop the cuts to just two delegates from each institution.

NUS block of twelve member and Education Action Network supporter Mark Bergfeld has asked students to sign an open letter on his blog. The open letter says

“If our National Union is serious about eliminating the barriers for SUs to send students we should send a clear signal out that this Cuts Conference can under no circumstances be cut. It rather should seek to allow every student to attend who has registered so far plus the ones on the waiting list. It is then that we could build on the unity displayed at conference on the question of cuts and seek to establish a date for the national demonstration which was passed at conference.”

The campaigning group Youth Fight for Jobs, supported by many national trade unions has also approached different campaigns and student activists to sign an open letter.

“If the NUS today does not name a date for a national demonstration at the conference on 29 July, we will initiate a call for a demonstration in London on Wednesday 20th October…we want to work with all those who want to fight back…”

Activists from the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts have signed both letters. We have also put out a statement calling for a national demonstration, though we believe this should take place on a Saturday to boost the attendance of communities and education workers – after all, “we are all in this together”!

But today’s anti-cuts conference is crunch-time for the NUS. If it fails to commit to building national action to stop the massacre of higher and further education at this conference, then students all over the country will be questioning why the organisation even exists – and who could blame them?