Students plan fresh wave of mass protest

September 16, 2011 By 4 Comments

See the full Guardian report by clicking here.

Contact: 07964791663

 

This letter will be published in the Guardian tomorrow, 17/09/11

As student campaigners, we fully support the trade union movement’s campaign against austerity, including the biggest wave of strike action since 1926. The government’s plans for universities represent a threat to the very purpose of education, with the poor being priced out of a marketised system of private providers, while school and FE students are being robbed of basic support. The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts has now called a national education demonstration for Wednesday November 9th, and we will organise for a day of mass direct action and walkouts to coincide with the strike. We will not allow this government to abolish the welfare state and destroy our futures.

Michael Chessum, National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts and NUS NEC

Maev McDaid, Liverpool Guild of Students President

Luke Durigan, UCL Union Education and Campaigns Officer

Daniel Lemberger-Cooper, Royal Holloway Students’ Union President, NCAFC National Committee

Claire Locke, London Met Students’ Union President

James Haywood, Goldsmith’s Students’ Union President

Edward Bauer, Birmingham Guild Education Officer and NCAFC National Committee

Sean Rillo Raczka, University of London Union Vice President

Alusine Alpha, Bradford Students’ Union Treasurer and NCAFC National Committee

Mike Williamson, Edinburgh Students’ Association Education Officer

Alan Bailey, NUS LGBT Officer (Open Place)

Matthew Bond, NUS Disabled Students’ Campaign and NEC and NCAFC National Committee

Alex Peters-Day, LSE Students’ Union General Secretary

Liam Turbett, Aiden Turner and Liam McCombes, Free Hetherington Glasgow Occupation

James McAsh, NCAFC National Committee, Edinburgh University

Shakira Akther, University of East London Vice President Campaigns

Gordon Maloney, NCAFC National Committee and NUS Scotland Executive

Bob Sutton, Liverpool Guild of Students Vice President and NCAFC National Committee

Aaron Peters, NCAFC National Committee

Claire Lister, NCAFC National Committee, Birmingham University

Alasdair Thompson, STUC Youth Committee and NCAFC National Committee

Alice Swift, NCAFC National Committee, Birmingham University

Arianna Tassinari, SOAS Students’ Union Co-President for Education and Welfare

Amena Amer, LSE Students’ Union Education Officer

Edward Maltby, NCAFC National Committee, London

Lukas Slothuus, LSE Students’ Union Welfare and Community Officer

Filed Under: Higher Education, international, Reports, Schools & FE, Student Unions, Trade Unions, Uncategorized

Students: Support the 30 November Strike!

September 16, 2011 By 2 Comments

Three million workers could strike on 30 November: students: take action in solidarity!

Facebook event here

The trade unions are moving towards a confrontation with the government over cuts to public sector pensions. Something like three quarters of a million teachers, lecturers and civil servants struck on 30 June (see here) for our solidarity at the time). Now the vast bulk of the public sector unions are going to ballot their members for strike action over pensions on 30 November – meaning that something like three million workers could strike. This is by the far the biggest challenge to the Tories? cuts program so far.

Already, members of the lecturers union UCU have voted for strike action (see here and here).

Students should support the public sector workers. Their fight is our fight. The Coalition is attacking pensions and slashing services for the same reason that it scrapped EMA and trebled tuition fees. It wants the majority of people in this country to pay for the crisis caused by the banks, so that the bosses and millionaires it serves can go on getting richer. (In the last two years the richest thousand people in Britain increased their wealth by £137 billion!) If the unions can beat the government on this it will be a huge blow to its whole agenda, and make all of us stronger to fight back.

The NCAFC is calling for students to make links with workers preparing to strike, to offer support and to prepare for our own action on the day: walk outs, demos and occupations. Taking action alongside the strikers is the best way to make solidarity. It also comes at the right time, three weeks after the national student demonstration on 9 November.

What you can do:

1. Make links between your anti-cuts group and student union and local union branches immediately. Offer you support in the run up to and on the day of the strike.

2. Pass a motion through your student union committing it to solidarity (a model motion will appear here shortly) and demanding that NUS also backs the strike.

3. If you’re a school or college student, walk out on 30 November! The walk outs over EMA last year had a huge impact. This time, with teachers on strike, we can have an even bigger effect, walking out to join the picket lines. If your school’s shut, join the teachers to demonstrate with them.

4. If you’re a university student, occupy! Get your occupation to issue a statement of solidarity with the strike.

5. Visit picket lines on the day. If you’re not in occupation, take part in the strikers’ demonstrations.

6. Link the struggles. Our fight is both about our own issues: fees, debt, grants/EMA, cuts to education ? and solidarity with the broader anti-cuts fightback, in the first instance the pensions battle. On 30 November we will be taking action both for own demands and in support of the strikers. Everything we put out publicly should make that clear.

If you want help, get in touch – email againstfeesandcuts@gmail.com or ring Ed Maltby from the NCAFC National Committee on 07775 763 750. Join the Facebook group for 30 November here.

Filed Under: Higher Education, Reports, Schools & FE, Student Unions, Trade Unions, Uncategorized

British Youth Council ‘sacks’ Honourary Presidents for betraying young people

September 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment

At Saturday’s Annual Council Meeting in London, the British Youth Council (BYC) voted against adopting two of its three Honorary Presidents in protest at their voting record on tuition fees.

Jo Swinson MP (LibDem), whose Presidency was up for renewal, and Aiden Burley MP (Conservative), whose nomination was new, were rejected by the conference. Both voted for the bill to triple fees on December 9th,  while students demonstrated outside and occupied their campuses. Swinson broke an explicit election pledge to vote against any rise in fees. The debate also focussed on the Coalition’s scrapping of EMA.

By its consitution, BYC must have an Honourary President from each of the three main parties, and the decision to reject the Libdem and Tory nominees was almost unprecedented.

Speaking against the nominations, an NCAFC activist said: “Jo Swinson is actively complicit in one of the biggest betrayals of young people in generations. She is part of a party that is part of a government that has tripled tuition fees, abolished EMA and betrayed young people… It would be ridiculous to make her an Honourary President of the BYC.”

 

Note: The British Youth Council (http://www.byc.org.uk/) is an umbrella network that represents millions of young people in the UK.

Contact: michael.chessum@nus.org.uk and 07964791663

Filed Under: Higher Education, London, Regions, Reports, Schools & FE, Student Unions, Uncategorized

Left-wingers elected to NUS executive

April 22, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Four left-wingers – Michael Chessum of the NCAFC, Mark Bergfeld and Ruby Hirsch of the SWP and Aaron Kiely of Socialist Action/Student Broad Left – have been elected to the part-time section of NUS National Executive.

Filed Under: Student Unions, Uncategorized

NCAFC candidates at NUS conference 2011

April 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Four NCAFC activists are standing in the elections for the National Executive at NUS conference 2011 (12-14 April, Newcastle). [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Unions, Uncategorized

Three actions/meetings at NUS conference 2011

April 7, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Details of Newcastle College UCU picket lines / Strike solidarity meeting / NCAFC fringe meeting with Education Activist Network network speaker. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Events, North, Regions, Student Unions

Motions and amendments for NUS conference 2011

February 20, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Model text for student unions to send to NUS conference 2011 (April 12-14, Newcastle) [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Unions

NUS leak in Times: another nail in Aaron Porter’s coffin

February 17, 2011 By 2 Comments

The Times newspaper has published extracts of a leaked NUS memo which cautions against campaigning against higher fees and describes the government’s higher education funding policies as “progressive”. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Unions, Uncategorized

Hundreds of students chase Aaron Porter through Manchester

January 29, 2011 By 16 Comments

National Union of Students President Aaron Porter was unable to speak at the rally of today’s NUS/UCU demonstration in Manchester, after hundreds of angry students chased him off the streets. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Events, North, Reports, Student Unions

Reclaim your student union! For anti-cuts slates in SU elections!

January 12, 2011 By 1 Comment

Student anti-cuts/fees activists should stand slates of candidates in upcoming student union elections. This is an opportunity not only to build and consolidate the growing anti-cuts movement, but to transform our student unions into campaigning, mass-mobilising organisations committed to and capable of resisting the Tories’ attacks. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Student Unions, Uncategorized
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