EAN co-ordination, Sunday 4 March, 12-3pm, ULU Strikes, walkouts and the defence of education
February 25, 2012 Leave a comment
EAN co-ordination, Sunday 4 March, 12-3pm, ULU
Strikes, walkouts and the defence of education
12-1.30pm: Developing a strategy for defending education
- Understanding the nature of the attacks we face
- Developing effective staff-student networks
- Learning from successful disputes
1.30pm -3pm: March 2012 and beyond: building effective action
- 14 March: NUS walkout and BIS demonstration
- 28 March pensions strike: pickets, protests and rallies
- After 28 March: escalating and deepening the action
The government has withdrawn its Higher Education Bill. Yet changes already underway mean that competition within and between our universities is intensifying. This process requires the driving down of costs, in particular staff costs. Every strike in defence of pensions, jobs, pay and conditions is therefore an act of resistance against marketisation.
On 28 March staff in post-16 education are set to take strike alongside teachers and civil servants. In the run up to the strike, the NUS has also called a week of action for education 12-16 March, including a national walk out on the 14 March. The Education Activist Network is inviting university staff, trade unionists and student activists to a co-ordination meeting on Sunday 4 March to plan for these actions.
The government is already facing a huge backlash against its reforms of the NHS. Its plans for higher education are identical – it wants private providers to be able to feed off public education. Staff and students are already developing local strategies to defend education on their campuses. This co-ordination meeting will provide an opportunity to share these experiences and discuss how we develop an effective strategy uniting the widest possible numbers in defence of the public university.
The government’s own strategy for higher education is in some disarray. It can be defeated. The NUS national student walkout on 14 March and the 28 March strikes provide opportunities for staff and students to build joint action – and networks that can deepen and escalate the action beyond these dates.
EAN co-ordination, Sunday 4 March, 12-3pm, ULU
Malet St, WC1E, Nearest tube Euston or Goodge Street
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