Occupation at Manchester: students confront uni bosses and police
Posted on April 23, 2008
Filed Under Actions, News
Students at Manchester University have occupied a key campus building following a demonstration organised by the left-led SU. See below for more information and updates.
A short report and pictures are available online https://publish.indymedia.org.uk/en/2008/04/397250.html
Video footage from Channel M: http://link.brightcove.com/services/link/bcpid1328266039/bctid1517402038
Manchester University Politics Society article: http://www.manchesterpolitics.co.uk/reclaim-the-uni-demo
This follows other occupations in the last two years at Sussex, Swansea and Cambridge. Although the efficacy of the occupation as a tool of direct action is still not as widely accepted in Britain as it is elsewhere, actions like this prove both that students can be won to tactics based on radical direct action mobilisation and that the potential for Students’ Unions to function as centres for organising and mobilisation (notwithstanding whatever criticisms ENS might have of the SWP-influenced UMSU leadership).
We send our solidarity.
An update from a Socialist Students comrade involved in the action:
“Occupation finished at 6pm, police let students out of the building, mood is very good.
“While occupation was on the students had a 3 ½ hour meeting, the meeting decided after much debate to present ten demands to the university management, the comrades argued successfully for demands around fees and free education.
“There are four more protests and occupations planned this week to force the university to listen to the students demands, and the [Socialist Students] comrades are doing stalls to build momentum today.”
The Manchester “Reclaim the Uni” campaign’s demands (The February Document)
This document has arisen from growing dissatisfaction with the Neo-liberal model that has been implemented at our university. It has been written by an autonomous collective as the basis for a mass action. It is hoped that this document will establish a common groundwork to connect the struggles of various different groups within the university and be a focus for future debate. This document should be viewed, however, as a stimulus and not a requirement for participation. Other groups are encouraged to share their ideas or organise their own actions as they see fit. We cannot speak for a network.
Our Demands
1: We oppose the move towards the business model at universities: knowledge is not a commodity, education should not be commercialised, businesses should not be calling the shots at out departments and the worth of a study should not be judged according to how much money it creates.
2: Universities exist as part of a community including students, lecturers, researchers, other staff and those outside of the institution itself and should not compete with other universities in the pursuit of the absurd concept of ‘excellence’. Universities are not brands vying for market shares.
3: We oppose the centralised, hierarchical and exclusionary model of management that accompanies the move towards a business style approach to university education. We oppose consultation exercises that do not alter this imbalance of power. Universities must be governed collectively and consensually. Democracy must not be sacrificed for the sake of ‘efficiency’.
4: We oppose the staff cuts, reductions in teaching hours, contact time and study resources that make the experience of university at Manchester so uninspiring for both staff and pupils.
5: We oppose a university that invests money in unethical enterprises, such as the £1.014 million currently invested in the arms trade.
6: We oppose our university’s persistent lobbying for an increase in top-up fee’s. It is likely that this will result in a two-tier higher education system in which top universities are placed further out of reach of students of poor economic background. Education is not the preserve of the privileged and students are not cash cows.
7: We want a decent wage and inclusion in decision making processes for all staff: cleaners, kitchen staff and administration assistants are a part of this university just as much as students and lecturers.
8: We acknowledge that the problems we face at Manchester University are inseparable from wider problems with Neo-liberal capitalism and the unrepresentative political system of present day Britain. We see our actions on campus as part of a wider struggle.
A variety of activities are being planned, culminating with a large action in ‘reclaim the university week’ which will be the third week after returning from Easter.
