Socialist Students plus UCU and Unison activists, Salford university protest, 23.5.13, photo Salford SP. (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
Salford Socialist Students initiate a fight back
On Thursday 23rd May, Salford Socialist Students assembled outside the Students Union calling for all members of the university to stand defiant with them against the 12th proposed round of cuts in the last 18 months.
Salford Socialist Students rallied around to try to defend students and staff after a ‘leaked document’ stated that this summer the university is to axe a further 75 staff, and cut courses that a prospective 1,300 students have already signed up to.
Martyn Moss, regional officer of the University and College Union (UCU) has stated that Salford University is “…unenviably the most prolific university in the UK for axing staff”.
Socialist Students member Farid Norat with a Latin banner (‘support the workers, support the students’ ), next to the Unison secretary and a UCU committee member (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)
Given that the majority of the students had returned home for the summer and the last were finishing their exams, there was a small student presence. This was more than compensated for by the numbers and support of staff that joined us from both the UCU and Unison.
Chris Sheehy, secretary of UCU at the university, and other staff present outside the Students Union were delighted that Socialist Students were speaking up.
Unison secretary Michelle Livesey also attended with other Unison members. United, we marched through the university campus, holding banners that read: ‘When the students are away, management will play’, since the cuts are being discussed at a time when the management know students are preoccupied.
We delivered a letter to the University of Salford’s Vice Chancellor, demanding that he either confirm or deny the allegations in the media, and pledging our support in advance for any actions the staff unions might take. UCU has now said it will include Socialist Students in its newsletter mailouts.
In conclusion, with student numbers thin, but anger and fear in abundance, strong links were made between the unions and Socialist Students, which has now helped to pave the way for a successful future at the University of Salford.
