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Leeds Anti-Cuts

Bulletin

Issue 7

November 11

How to Rebuild the Student Movement in Leeds?Last year saw the re-emergence of a mass studentmovement in Leeds. 14 coaches went from Leeds tothe national NUS demo in November, 2 weeks later3,000 walked out and demonstrated through thestreets of Leeds. Hundreds then occupied LeedsUniversity, and then later on Leeds Trinity wheremanagement eventually made some concessionsincluding an office for anti-cuts activists to use oncampus.

Unfortunately, this was not enough to stop theprincipal attacks to the education sector, huge cuts to

education, the lifting of the cap on tuition fees to9,000 a year and the abolition of the EducationMaintainence Allowance. It did extract someconcessions including pledges from the WelshAssembly and Scottish Parliament to keep down tuitionfee rises and implement their own version of EMA, aswell as retaining EMA for existing students. Whilst nota victory, such concessions would not have been madewithout a mass movement of students taking place.

Since then, the TUC has organised its huge March 26thdemonstration. With well over million in attendance

it was one of the largest trade union organiseddemonstrations this country has ever seen. That wasfollowed by PCS (civil servants union) and someteaching unions, representing around 1millionworkers, taking strike action in defence of theirpensions on June 30th, which has in turn acted as alever in preparing the ground for the potential 24 hourpublic sector general strike taking place on November30th (N30) that will see around 3m out.

Given the only ever strike on this scale in Britain wasthe all-out general strike of 1926, then this could have

a huge impact both political and industrially onworkers and students across Britain. For the first timein decades the power of the working class to stopsociety will be shown to all, a power that canpotentially halt and even reverse the Con-Dem cuts aswell as collapse the government itself.

Re-build the Student Anti-Cuts Movement

It is vital that students support this movement.Despite going through last year, it is only in thecoming academic year (2012-13) when the tuition feeswill be implemented. If students and workers canunite in action, then like the poll tax, these attacks canbe swept away even after being passed throughparliament.

www.leedssocialiststudents.wordpress.com / Find us on facebook as Leeds Socialist Students

Therefore it isvital thatstudents aremobilised insupport of theaction on N30,supportingpicket linesand joiningthe massdemos andrallies across

the country.

Last year there existed anti-cuts campaigns on each of theuniversity campuses, as well as a group for collegestudents. These groups organised the walkouts and werethe inspirers of last years student occupations, and atLeeds Trinity actually organised and led the occupation.They served as points for involving and mobilising studentsin each institution, but unfortunately this year havestruggled to get functioning again.

But they can be rebuilt, and the run up to N30 can provide

a launch pad to do this. Socialist Students argues that anti-cuts meetings should be built for at each university, andcolleges and schools if possible, with student and tradeunion speakers and advertised widely around campus andonline. Such meetings can be used to sign up newmembers of anti-cuts groups, and organise a planningmeeting of students to build support for the strike andsupport workers on the day itself. The anti-cuts groupscould also take up issues where staff, courses and facilitiesare being cut at each university and build up masscampaigns to defend them.

But another feature of last year were the studentassemblies that took place, drawing together activists fromacross educational institutions to organise the way forwardon a Leeds wide basis. The meeting on November 2nd couldplay a similar role, but a further student assembly shouldbe convened after N30. But students shouldnt isolatethemselves from workers on campus and elsewhere in thecity. Education and other trade unionists should be invitedto speak at such a meeting and take part in the discussions,with students anti-cuts groups also sending people to thewider Leeds Against the Cuts campaign group. In such away we can revitalise the student movement whilst linkingit clearly with the struggle of workers to defeat the policiesof austerity and the rotten ConDem coalition that isimplementing them.

Last years 3000 strong Nov 24th demo

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We Call for:Stop all cuts and closures.Oppose compulsory

redundancies and fight forevery job

Reverse the increase in

fees or the introduction of

so-called fast-track

degrees, fight for free

education, a living grant

and writing off of student

debt

Oppose expensive

privatisation schemes, foreducation to be fully publicly

funded at all levels

Tax the super rich bankers

- stop their bonuses- fund

education and other public

services properly

Support staff taking strike

action, other staff and students

to support staff pickets and

build towards a one day

walkout of staff and studentsDemocratise SUs,

reinstate decision makingAGMs at LUU. For

campaigning studentunions prepared to fight

against all cuts

Build a mass campaign

involving trade unions, workersand students at local

universities, colleges and

schools as well as othercampaigns nationally

Join Socialist Students

Socialist Students is acampaigning socialistorganisation based in over 50 universities aroundthe country. We organise a city centre group whichmeets at Leeds Uni at 5pm on Fridays in Parkinsonbuilding room 4.20 and a group at Leeds Trinitywhich meets on Thursdays. For more info contactIain on 07809839793 or we can be found onfacebook as Leeds Socialist Students or LeedsTrinity Socialist Students (LTSS)

Join The March For Jobs & Education

Leeds Anti-Cuts

Bulletin

Issue 7

November11

www.leedssocialiststudents.wordpress.com / Find us on facebook as Leeds Socialist Students

On Saturday 8 October, 200 people marched through Leeds against youthunemployment and racist division. On the same day, 700 supporters of theBAE Systems workers and the Jarrow March for Jobs gathered in Hull.

Young unemployed people, part of the lost generation are marching the330 miles from Jarrow to London and were in Leeds all weekend. OnSaturday, we marched from Leeds University through Leeds city centre to arally at Millenium Square. Speakers at the rally included Matt Meehan of the

Yorkshire TUC Youth Forum and Ian Pattison of Yorkshire Youth Fight forJobs who is joining the march from Leeds to London. The opening rally atLeeds University was addressed by Jarrow Marcher Sean Figg, SocialistStudents member Alicia Blackett and trade unionists Jane Atchinson (PCSDWP President) and Ryan Case (CWU Youth).

Marchers hit back against slander by Tory MP for Scarborough, RobertGoodwill, who claimed 145,387 in expenses in 2008. Goodwill hascondemned the Jarrow March for Jobs, but despite this and the rain, spiritswere not dampened.

A racist group with links to the far-right EDL and neo-Nazi Combat 18threatened to protest in Leeds against what they call multiculturalism,immigration, and Islamic invasion on the same day as the Jarrow Marchwas due in town. These racist bigots only serve to divide working classcommunities along arbitrary racial and religious lines, at a time when weneed to be more united them ever.

We cant rely on big business politicians to effectively challenge the far right.Former New Labour minister, Margaret Hodge, said British people should goto the front of the housing queue, and Tory leader David Cameron attackedmulticulturalism the same day as a racist EDL march. How can these out oftouch millionaire politicians understand the problems facing young peopletoday? When the racist British National Party (BNP) stood in Barking in 2010,

Youth Fight for Jobs organised a march through the constituency toundercut the racist lies of the far right.

The Jarrow March for Jobs will now march to London, finishing with anational demonstration on 5 November, holding demonstrations in everytown and city along the way (and a few places like Bristol and Cardiff not enroute); to offer young people an alternative to an age of austerity.