NUS conference:
Leaders’ timewasting tactics
YET AGAIN, delegates to National Union of Students (NUS) conference
were treated to round after round of discussion on essentially
meaningless motions. Those motions representing campaigns by grassroots
student activists were pushed down the order paper by motions from the
NUS executive such as re-introducing the call for means-testing to NUS
policy.
On the controversial NUS Extra card the right-wing leaders threatened
that if that motion wasn’t passed the NUS would cease to exist. They
claimed there was no alternative to solving the union’s financial
problems. But if the NUS put forward a fighting strategy against the
many attacks on our education they would not be facing a shortfall
caused by disaffiliation of colleges and universities.
Iain Dalton
Over 80% of delegates were sabbaticals of various universities. NUS
elections are poorly advertised or sometimes not even held, so there is
a bias towards people already involved in NUS and against students who
just want to fight back. These officials also often submit the, often
meaningless, motions that stop grassroots student motions being passed.
On top of this they submitted numerous procedural motions to stop
debate on important issues and wasted hours of conference time, even
asking for a quorum count when conference was full!
Socialist Students campaigns for a fully democratic NUS, organised
from the bottom up and not dictated to by the current Blairite
leadership. Such a union would be able to organise a national
demonstration against top-up fees which the conference has called for
repeatedly over the years, as part of a campaign to get a free, public,
properly funded education system, with living grants for all.
A voice for angry, debt-ridden students
SOCIALIST STUDENTS took an 18-member strong delegation to NUS
conference, and actively campaigned for socialist ideas, including
spreading the successful Lambeth college canteens campaign.
Over 40 students were interested in spreading the campaign
countrywide to replace private canteens with quality student union-run
canteens. We stood Socialist Student and Lambeth College student union
president Rob MacDonald in the block of twelve part-time NEC members
election and are still awaiting the results.
It was difficult to get in to speak on the conference floor, but
Socialist Students made several speeches, explaining our position in a
way that connected with ordinary students.
For example we explained our opposition to the motion that said
"faith schools are uniquely able to provide support for children
from minority backgrounds". While other groups got bogged down in
provocative debate, insisting that faith schools were either very good
or very bad, we stressed that faith schools were part of the
government’s strategy to take our schools out of public and accountable
hands.
Alongside city academies, they were an attempt to privatise every
aspect of our education. As the only group linking the arguments on the
conference floor to students’ day to day experience we gained some
authority.
Socialist Students also counter-demonstrated against Labour Students
who condemned the Tories for their right-wing views, by pointing out
that they too shared those views, and offered no answers for ordinary
students. After all it was Blair’s continuation of Thatcher’s policies
that led to the introduction of top-up fees!
Overall Socialist Students made a big impact at conference, making
all delegates take notice of our principled views. Five people filled in
joining cards and 17 copies of the socialist were sold. We will keep
building Socialist Students and raising a campaigning voice in the
campuses and workplaces to reach students who are angry and fed-up with
debt, fees and poverty and want to fight back!
FE lecturers vote to strike
LECTURERS IN further education (FE) have voted to strike after being
offered a pay cut – a pay deal worth less than the rate of inflation.
Members of the national executive of NATFHE, the lecturers’ union,
have voted for a two-day strike on 2 and 3 May. And if they do not get a
favourable response from the employers, NATFHE’s FE committee have voted
to escalate to indefinite action.
Andrew Price from NATFHE’s executive told the socialist: "At the
meeting I spoke in favour of escalating the action, which marks a
radical change in NATFHE policy. But in my view it’s the best way to
bring the long-running pay dispute in England to a successful
conclusion."
Some lecturers are still waiting for pay increases that were due in
August 2004 and NATFHE is still in dispute over last year’s pay offer of
2.8%. The union put in a 7% claim for 2006/7.
