NUS Women’s Campaign votes to support national demo for free education

By Gemma Short, NUS Women’s Committee open place

At the last meeting of NUS Womens’ Committee, on 23rd October, ENS supporters took a motion to support the call for a national demonstration against fees, debt and the marketisation of education. This motion was passed almost unanimously, and as well as giving NUS womens’ campaign a policy of fighting for free education by taxing the rich and business, it calls for a national demonstration in spring 2009.

This policy is contrary to the policy that the NUS leaders pushed for and passed at annual conference 2008 – which stops short of calling for free education, and certainly would not call for taxation of the rich and business. However, on Women’s Committee prominent Labour Students – who would usually be gunning for NUS’s policy of entering into negotiations with the government and not calling national action - not only voted for the motion, but spoke in favour of it. When one committee member took parts to remove a section that read “funded by taxing the rich and business … that every student over 16 should receive a living grant of at least £150 a week”, it was Estelle Hart, Labour Students, who spoke against removing the parts!

It’s not clear why they did this. However, it is a positive step towards turning back to clocks on NUS inaction, and towards renewing a culture of militant fighting student unionism in campuses across the country. We now need to push for the Womens’ Campaign to actually mobilise for a national demonstration and lead the way on repopularising the ideas of free education.

The statement for the demo can be found here here; please consider trying to pass this through your women’s group etc.

While New Labour cuts grants and student numbers, Irish students show how to fight back! Join the call for a national demo

On Wednesday 29 October, the Government confirmed to the Guardian that it plans to slash eligibility for student grants, and cut student numbers by up to 10,000.

For the details, see the Guardian article here.

Higher education minister John Denham denies that this has anything to do with the economic crisis, but it is a clear indication of how New Labour plans to cut back as things get tight. Its shows how we need to take social wealth out of the hands of the bankers and capitalists so it can be used for social need. That goal is a long way off; but we begin now by fiercely resisting every cut, and demanding what students need.

On 22 October, Irish students brought Dublin to a standstill when 10,000 demonstrated against increased university registration charges, budget cuts and threats to reintroduce tuition fees - see here. As a proportion of the membership of the Union of Students in Ireland, this is equivalent to 200,000 in Britain; in stark contrast to the Blairite-led NUS’s total passivity in the face of New Labour attacks.

ENS’s call for a national demonstration early next year, which is gaining support across the country, is more important than ever. Please add your or your organisation’s name, and get involved. See below for more details.
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ENS activist meetings, Friday 31 October and Saturday 1 November

ENS activists will be caucusing on the evening of Friday 31 October, after the anti-capitalist demonstration in the City of London and in advance of Saturday’s “Another Education is Possible” conference the next day. We will also be caucusing at the conference itself.

8pm, Friday 31 October, the Anchor Tap pub, Horsleydown Lane, SE1 2LN, near to Tower Hill, London Bridge and Bermondsey stations. For a map see, here.

Another Education is Possible is from 11am till 5pm, Saturday 1 November, at SOAS, near Russell Square. See http://www.anothereducationispossible.org.uk

Come along to discuss the conference, the recent announcement that the government plans to cut grants and limit student numbers, and our call for a national demonstration. For more information or to meet us on Saturday, email Daniel at skillz_999@hotmail.com or ring 07961 040 618

Class(room) struggle: workers fight back at Nottingham Trent and Sussex

On 6 October, lecturers at Nottingham Trent University and their supporters will rally in protest at management’s decision to terminate the recognition agreement with their union, UCU. Below is the national UCU call in support of the rally. Meanwhile, management at Sussex University are attempting to cut the pensions of university support workers organised by Unite - leading to a strike on Friday 10 October. Sussex Education Not for Sale is actively supporting this struggle; below is the text of their leaflet distributed at Sussex freshers’ fair.

As our institutions become closer and closer to fully-fledged capitalist businesses, battles like these will become more and more common and increasingly sharp, making the need for unity in struggle between students and workers on campus even more urgent.
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