Socialist Students statement
Socialist Students stands in solidarity with the University and Colleges Union (UCU) taking national strike action on 24, 25 and 30 November.
The UCU has been fighting for years against attacks to our universities by management and the Tories – cuts to courses, staff wages, working conditions and pensions.
But now the cost-of-living crisis threatens even further attacks. Workers and students are feeling prices go up everywhere, with our wages and maintenance loans not even coming close to covering the increase in the cost of living.
Inflation is further squeezing the income of universities, as every day running costs skyrocket. Socialist Students calls for a united struggle to scrap the tuition fee funding model, which is bringing universities to ruin.
- Fully fund free education
- Replace loans with grants, tied to inflation
- Cancel student debt
- All paid for by taking the wealth from the super-rich
We say building a common and united struggle between students and workers against cuts, and for the reintroduction of free education is central to ending the crisis we face on campus. That’s why Socialist Students is building the maximum possible student support for the UCU, including collecting the signatures of students supporting the strikes.
The 30 November march called by the UCU in London could be a key event to bring together workers taking strike action on and off campus – CWU and RMT strikers, plus civil service workers in PCS and nurses in RCN, which recently balloted successfully for strike action – with students as well.
That’s why Socialist Students is mobilising our members to that demo, and campaigning for student unions to arrange travel to London. The National Education Union (NEU) in sixth forms is taking strike action starting on 30 November, so the march that day is also a chance for sixth-form teachers and students to link up with university students in the struggle against education cuts.
Socialist Students will be visiting UCU picket lines and getting in touch with UCU branches to discuss how best to build student support for the strikes. But key now is that the different trade unions – either with live industrial ballots or currently balloting for strike action – meet to discuss coordinating action to get rid of the imploding Tory government.
Socialist Students also says that students ourselves need to get organised. This is key to building student support for the strikes, allowing us to more effectively link up with striking campus workers. It would also mean we can discuss the cost-of-living crisis that we as students face, what demands we need to fight for, and to appeal to striking university staff to support rent control, cost-of-living grants, and free education.
