Don’t let JJB Sports sack Chris Riley!
Three weeks ago, ENS brought you information about a strike by low-paid workers in a JJB Sports warehouse in Wigan. Read on for the latest developments…
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Oaxaca solidarity demo
Demonstration in solidarity with the Oaxaca uprising and against electoral fraud in Mexico. 5-7pm. Meet at the Mexican Embassy, 16 George Street, Mayfair, London W1S 1LX.
Anti-fascist rally
1pm, Central Park, Dagenham
Called by Unite Against Fascism
Education, education, alienation
David Broder, an Education Not for Sale supporter and gap-year student, has written the following article as part of his research for his forthcoming book on Daniel Cohn-Bendit and the 1968 French student struggles.
We reproduce it here in order to open up a debate about the history of our movement internationally, and about what kind of education system we should be fighting for. We invite and welcome further contributions.
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Ultra Vires Briefing - the law, what it says, what it doesn’t say and how to beat it
ENS has produced a briefing about the “ultra vires” provisions of charities law. Their impact on the activities of student unions are a big issue for student activists. This is because student campaigners of all sorts are regularly told by their student union officers that particular proposals to the SU are ultra vires and cannot be carried out.
This guide seeks to set out in basic terms what the law says and what it doesn’t; explain how in most cases it is relatively easy to get round ultra vires perfectly legally, providing some suggestions for doing so; and put the case for campaigning for changes to the law so that students alone and not the government can determine how our unions’ money is spent. We intend it as a contribution to rebuilding the culture of political campaigning that we need in the student movement.
To download it as a PDF click here.
ENS Open Steering Committee
Followed by meeting to plan for abortion rights campaign and demo launched by Feminist Fightback, (2pm-3.30pm)
Both alongside No Sweat activists’ training day at Transport and General Workers’ Union HQ, Transport House, 128 Theobalds Road, Holborn, London WC1X 8TN. Email for more info.
Victory in Houston!
Two weeks ago, ENS brought you info about a strike involving thousands of janitors in Houston, Texas. Now, we are delighted to bring you info about their victory.
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Stop the closures at Redhill College
UCU, Unison and the Social Care Association are campaigning against department closures due to happen next term at Redhill College, which caters for blind and partially sighted students and students with learning difficulties.
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ENS model motions to NUS Conference 2007
Student unions can submit motions for the 2007 NUS Conference, which takes place March 27-29 in Blackpool
The four “zones ” or topics for discussion are “Education ”, “Strong and active unions ”, “Welfare and student rights ” and “Society and citizenship ”; each SU is entitled to submit one motion in each zone. The word limit is 400, and the deadline for submission is 1pm, Friday 1 December.
This is a vital opportunity for left-wing activists to get text submitted to NUS Conference. ENS activists have produced a number of model motions which you can propose to your student union.
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Fighting McCarthyism at Dundee Uni
Students at Dundee University are fighting back against the presence of Special Branch officers on their campus. For more on the issue of McCarthyism on British university campuses, see here.
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Protests in solidarity with JJB Sports workers’ strike
Various JJB Sports outlets around the country. Click here for more details or email for info.
Support the JJB Sports workers’ strike in Wigan!
As the burden of debt forces more and more students into the workplace, we often find ourselves employed by major high-street names and working long hours for low wages. ENS believes that workers’ self-organisation in the sectors in which students are employed is vital if students are to be protected at work. That’s why we support any action by workers to improve their pay and conditions, including current strike action by workers employed by the JJB Sport corporation.
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Conference against academies and trust schools: a good local school for every child
Second national conference of the Anti-Academies Alliance
11.30-3.30pm, University of London, Institute of Education
Email for more info.
Reclaim The Night March
Women only. Assemble 6pm, central London. Click here for more info.
Pro-choice lobby of Parliament and public meeting
Organised by Abortion Rights and sponsored by NUS Women’s Campaign
1-4pm: Lobby of Parliament for a woman’s right to choose
7-9pm: Public meeting, House of Commons Room 10
Click here for more info.
Defend adult education conference
10-4pm, Brixton Recreation Centre, 27 Brixton Station Road (Brixton tube and rail)
Speakers include Tony Benn, Roger Kline (Head of Equality and Employment Rights, UCU), Simon Beer (National Organisation for Adult Learning), Sofie Buckland (NUS)
Organised by Lambeth College Students’ Union, Unison and UCU. For more information or a creche place ring 020 7501 5197
No Sweat Conference
12pm - 6pm, School of Oriental and African Studies, Thornaugh Street, near Euston, London. Creche available. Plus Saturday evening social and activist training day on Sunday 26 November. For more info and tickets visit No Sweat
Thousands of janitors on strike in Houston, Texas
Below is a report on a current strike by thousands of migrant cleaning workers in Houston, Texas. Education Not for Sale believes that the pay and conditions of workers such as cleaners on our campuses should matter to students; the market system that leads to low-pay is the same system that forces us to pay for our education. That’s why ENS supporters have been involved in launching or supporting ‘living wage’ campaigns in Oxford, Queen Mary’s and LSE.
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The fightback begins!
A report on the Feminist Fightback conference by Laura Schwartz
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Environmental & Ethical Campaign conference, 16th October 2006
For a few years now, the only visible activity from the E&E Campaign has been its annual conference, so Dave and I were determined to make it a good one, with activity that continues well after the event. Key to that was some good solid debate, working with our partner organisations, and building networks. Personally, I think we succeeded on all fronts.
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Too yellow to be green?
I just got “greenmailed ” - no, not threatened with extortion by environmentalists, but emailed one of the Greens' press releases. This is far from infrequent, but this one seems really well timed as it allows me to complete my trilogy of comparing the Greens to the Big Three political parties of the moment.
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Vote blue, go green?
I'm all about fairness, me, so having written a blog outlining some of the reasons that my sympathy with labour doesn't translate to support for Labour, it seems only polite to outline why I ain't exactly a big fan of the Tories either. To keep it ideologically-focused, I'll try to put my personal experiences to one side, like growing up in the 80s and 90s as the child of a single mother who worked as a nurse in the NHS and lived five minutes walk away from a coal mine. We'll even ignore my family's low socio-economic status, especially in my grandparents' generation.
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Standing on the edge of summer
It's a little over a month since my last factual update, barring my NEC meeting report, so it seems appropriate to give you the chance to catch up. In truth, I've not done very much NUS work in the last five or so weeks, but I suppose this is my opportunity to explain as to why.
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Why I’m not a Labour man
This is version 2.0 of this particular blog, and is inspired by a number of recent happenings. Most recently, a friend and political co-thinker told me that he was considering joining the Labour Party if and when Tony Blair resigned as PM. Before that, at the AGM of the British Youth Council, where I spoke in favour of their adopting a no platforms policy, a member of Coventry North-East Constituency Labour Party asked me, unawares, whether I was a Labour member because I “sounded like one. ” And before that, just before the August NEC meeting, Wes Streeting had a light-hearted pop at me.
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Sofie Buckland’s blog updated
Sofie Buckland, one of two ENS supporters on the NUS National Executive Committee, has updated her blog with two posts.
For Sofie’s report on the NUS national demonstration, click here
For an article on the witch-hunt against Muslim students, click here
Defend Muslim students against “McCarthyism”
In mid-October, the press got hold of a leaked document from the
Department for Education and Skills which proposes that university staff spy on Muslim and even “Asian-looking” students - and inform special branch of anyone they suspect is involved in Islamic “extremism”.
Both NUS president Gemma Tumelty and UCU joint general secretary Paul Mackney have rightly denounced this as smelling strongly of “McCarthyism”.
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Fighting fees - you reap what you sow
Before I start with what has been characterised by my block-mate Joe Rooney as my typical pessimism and relentless negativity, I'd like to emphasise that I'm very, very pleased the NUS National Demonstration took place this year. Education Not for Sale have long agitated for getting students out on the streets to demand free education; it's good that the demo was organised, and we hope the campaign doesn't stop here.
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Fighting for women’s right to chose in Poland
This following was put out by Polish feminist and campaign groups, together with one trade union and a small left party, to protest the grave threat to abortion rights in Poland. If measures before parliament go through, Poland will ban virtually all abortions. The appeal calls for international support for the pro-choice demonstration on November 4 and for protest messages to be sent to the Polish government and media.
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ENS Women versus the Tories…
The Tory Party recently held an event on women in politics, to highlight their commitment to increasing women’s representation by securing more Tory MPs. The event was called… “Shoes, Shopping and Politics.” ENS Women went along to tell the Tories what we thought…
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York ENS fights for free education
Following direct action by ENS supporters at Cambridge, the ENS group at York University staged a rally on their campus after handing in an anti-fees petition of more than 800 names to their Vice Chancellor.
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