Lessons from #SaveSUJobs

Photo: Tyler McNally

in the last two weeks, the #SaveSUJobs has been a lesson in campaigning, organising and activism; not just for the people involved but for others looking in. I am of course talking about the wider ‘student movement’

In a mere two weeks, a small collection of students and workers in QUBSU managed to build a campaign, call a referendum and return a massive 97% in favour of keeping jobs in the Students Union. This was the best campaign organised in QUBSU without any input from QUBSU, after all it saved 18 jobs!

With the cuts and privatisation to come, all of which will impact on our quality of education, National Unions like NUS-USI, NUS etc.  Need to look at this campaign, how it worked, WHY it worked and learn for the struggles ahead, the old approaches of organised lobbies and isolated and infrequent grassroots campaigning are not enough, not fit for purpose.

It’s not often that we in the weird and wonderful realm of Student Politics have a victory to critique and develop for future issues, now we always have issues like EMA which are window dressed as victories, when in reality they are Pyrrhic in nature but not an actual outright victory. Don’t waste this opportunity.

There are many reasons why the campaign was successful, but key reasons lie in the fact it was student led, supported by Trade Unions, it was very active on the ground (the fact that a lot of people knew about the issue already on polling day proves this) It was a determined, strong campaign that utilised peoples’ best talents and worked to an agreed programme.

I’m not one for Nostalgia, or blowing one’s trumpet but I feel the need to stress that when I ran for NUS-USI President, with the aim of completely overhauling how the organisation interacts and represents the student demographic. It was grassroots campaigning on campus issues like with the #SaveSUJobs campaign that I had in mind. Imagine how effective a National Union would be if it campaigned on issues like these students and workers did.

In order for our National Unions to stop being the abstract bodies they are for the overwhelming majority of students; new approaches to campaigning are needed, a strategy that combines lobbying with on the ground organising, a dualist strategy is far more effective campaigning, it also brings students into contact with their national unions in a meaningful way. Students see them operate in their interests. Better than a press release every once in a while in my humble opinion.

In a handful of sentences, it’s simple: National Unions need to build democratically accountable campaigns from the ground up, with total student involvement.

Whilst this post has focused on national unions (perhaps slightly unfairly) it holds a strong lesson for our local Students’ Unions, Students are not always apathetic, Campaigning does not start and end with Social Media and more. We can all learn from this campaign, and for the sake of future issues and campaigns….As students who care, we need to.

*Views expressed are purely my own and don’t reflect the opinions of the #SaveSUJobs campaign

Apathy? What Apathy!?

#SaveSUJobs Rally Photo: Tyler McNally

It’s all too common to encounter the apathy argument in Student politics. On almost every issue, from fees to EMA to international human rights abuses and more. People seem to always turn around and declare as if it’s a universal truth that  students are apathetic….that “they don’t care”

The truth is that there is a significant amount of apathy in the ‘student movement’ and we can debate the reasons, the commercialisation of education, university as commodity and beyond. But there are times when apathy is broken, and students come out in numbers. We seen this with the protests UK wide against tuition fee hikes recommended by the Browne Review (a Labour initiated review into University funding) and enacted by the ConDem Government way back in late 2010, even here in Northern Ireland, 2,000 students protested outside City Hall in the December of ’10 to support students protesting in the UK and to show their opposition to any such similar ideas here. QUBSU organised a demo that attracted 1,400 that year. Apathy is not unbreakable.

Two days ago, students at QUB were asked to vote in a referendum initiated by student activists, in order to overturn a decision by SU Management to outsource security jobs in the SU to G4s. The petition gathered 1,200 signatures and the actual referendum vote returned a behemoth 97% vote calling for the jobs to stay within the SU, a vote of over 1,300 QUB students.

Two things, Students taking on their own Union to save jobs is big, the fact alone that they have had to shows the disconnect between the Students’ Union and its actual membership, a membership often left forgotten until election time…or QUB Apprentice.

secondly, the vote shows that students can actually care about issues outside of tutorial cancellations and essay deadlines, especially considering this referendum was held during the high point of exam preparation season!

Perhaps, the referendum and subsequent student and activist response has shown us that the game has changed, the objective economic situation of feck all jobs, feck all postgraduate funding and well…feck all hope impacted on the consciousness of the student populous. I actually think there may be the grounds for establishing a broad anti cuts and outsourcing group at QUB. We should be clear, this won’t end with Security, soon the idea of privatising the bars or the Shop will come up, and our response has to be just as strong. We also need to remember that the privatisation agenda is also creeping through the lecture halls, the tutorial rooms and more. Any attempts to outsource University services require the same stringent response. A broad activist group made up of students and workers/trade unionists on campus could make what is a tough job, a little less problematic.

The #SaveSUJobs referendum has shown us that Apathy isn’t an insurmountable obstacle, it can be broken….we broke it, and we can break it again. Organise and consolidate!

 

 

Big Brother is Watching You: Fermanagh and the G8

Police watch over a protest, a permanent site for Fermanagh? Photo: Tyler McNally

It’s main street Enniskillen, FE students are buying lunch, parents are buying groceries or picking kids up from school; Much like any other small town in the North. That is until this normal scene is interrupted by a motorcade of six police motorcycles cruising down the street, “a normal sight now” explains an old friend of mine as we walk down the street. Enniskillen now has  a heavier police presence than in Belfast over the marching season and neither protester or G8 member will set foot on Fermanagh soil for nearly six weeks.

Substantial increases in CCTV cameras stationed around the town, Police boats out on regular patrols on the Lough and more add to the unsettling environment more suitable to a chapter in Orwell’s ’1984.’ Chatter amongst locals just adds to the feelings of anxiety as talk of “Americans and Europeans” stalking bars and listening into conversations, sometimes even approaching people asking “what’s happening? Who are you? What is everyone up to?” are leaving people feeling (understandably) very paranoid.

To say this is merely heightened security is to court fantasy, this is an attempt to smash any attempts to resist the G8 through fear, massive security and paranoia.

The local media has been engaging in what could only be described as G8 Churnalism, publishing stories on everything from police numbers, accomodation and more. At one stage an expose was published on “the leaders of the anti G8 movement” naming me and two others (in my case it was false) in a clear attempt to smear the movement as we were labelled as malcontents, mavericks and more. Joining in with the Politicians in trying to discredit anti G8 protesting.

In what can only be described as sick humour, the other strategy in the Politicians battle for hearts and minds is that instead of refurbishing disused land, making it socially useful and generating jobs in the county. Council workers have been made to erect banners showing the delights of ‘Lakeland Tourism’ to throw a very poor bandaid over these visual sores. One such bandaid is sprawled over a view of a long disused factory in my hometown, Lisnaskea. Even more bizarrely, vacant shops like the old Cafe Cellini on Belmore street now have these massive stickers that make it look like a vibrant coffee shop are slapped over the windows. This isn’t job creation, this is glossing over misery and hardship for foreign diplomats.

Intimidation, deception and ultimately incarceration are the state and media’s tactics to win people over to a conference that will just make their lives worse, with a whole town and surrounding areas in lockdown once this conference starts. Businesses will be hit, children won’t make it to School, people will lose out on wages from being unable to get to work on time. With all this considered, the real question is that when the G8 ends, with Fracking on the horizon, a dangerous and controversial process of gas extraction which Politicians and certain business interests in both Stormont and Westminster want desperately. Often calling it the silver bullet to solve Fermanagh’s employment woes; when, if ever will these security precautions cease to be, or will threats of Dissident Republicanism be used as a scape goat to block resistance to Fracking as well?

NUS-USI Presidential Election: What I Stand For

Today I handed in my nomination form to stand for the position of NUS-USI President. This may come to people as a surprise given how I was very keen on running for the position of Deputy President for a long time. In short, I’m standing for this position because our members are being attacked left right and centre, being forced to pay for a financial crisis brought on by fat cat speculators and bosses, not ordinary people like you and me. I am the candidate best able to fight for student interests and I hope I can win your vote in the coming weeks.

There are very strong reasons for why I’m running for the position at this year’s NUS-USI Conference, some of which are listed below:

Defend EMA: When the new President takes up office in June, 4,000 students will have lost their entitlement to the 10 and 20 pound bands of EMA, which will force many out of education given the current economic climate.
Fighting for a Future: over 70 Graduates from University fight for every single job, in fact the actual figure is more than likely a lot higher now. We need to stop fantasising about employability being key to solving the jobs crisis. We need to campaign for job creation and against Workfare and unpaid internships being used to replace paid work, paid jobs!
Anti-Sectarianism: Throughout History, Students and Workers have played a key role in cutting across Sectarian divides and uniting us on common ground. In a heightened state of sectarian tension, NUS-USI must be prepared to step in alongside the wider Trade Union movement.

Pro-Choice: Every woman must have the right to autonomy over her own body, reproductive rights and their denial effect our membership and as such we must be actively campaigning for them.

LGBT: I’m a full supporter of Equal Marriage, an end to the MSM blood ban and a supporter of LGBT adoption rights. I want to see NUS-USI continue their involvement in campaigning for Equal Marriage and other LGBT issues as and when they arise.

Free Education: Education is a public right, not private privilege. If we stand idle now, in the midst of 9K fees for GB students, privatisation of FE Buildings, course cuts and more. We will lose education to the private sector entirely. Education must be exchequer funded from point of entry, this provides the best accessibility for people from all income thresholds.

Build links with Trade Unions in the Education Sector:

NIPSA, UNISON,UNITE, and UCU are all organised on our campuses. They are the cleaners, the cooks, the admin staff, the porters, security guards, lecturers and more. These people are crucial to our education and experience as a student. When they are facing cutbacks and worse terms and conditions, we are hurt too. We must build links with these unions so we can support each other in opposing cuts to education and the wider public service.

About me:

Youth Fight for Jobs Occupation of DEL which I took part in

I’m a 21 year old Philosophy student, a Socialist, former USDAW Shop steward (2 years) and a Photographer.

Over the last three years I’ve been involved in a plethora of campaigns on an ever widening variety of issues, from demanding Reproductive Rights for Women to fighting homophobia and Racism. I played a large role in the Anti Fracking movement here in Ireland, helping set up groups in Fermanagh, Belfast and Dublin and organised protests to work alongside the lobbying and petitioning tactics of the campaign. We made the issue hit the national news thanks to this work.

All of this experience will be brought to the table if elected. I have by far the greatest level of campaigning experience of any candidate standing for President this year.

Drawing Lines in the Equal Marriage Debate

We’re all familiar with the arguments over Equal Marriage rights for LGBT couples. Almost all the people who’ll read this blog will support Equal Marriage for LGBT couples. This isn’t a blog post debating the right to marriage, that’s a no brainer. It’s a blog post about where people draw their lines on what counts as Equal Marriage and where their ‘equality’ ends.

The line almost always ends with Monogamy, Marriage seems to be all well and grand with most people so long as it’s between two people and only two people. Another reason why the line ends there is that many campaigners see it as unachievable and basically say we should treat this as a game of really slow dominoes i.e it took such a fight for people to treat monogamous LGBT sections as equal, you can’t seriously expect them to treat polygamy the same.

These people seem to misunderstand how the LGBT struggle progressed through time. It hasn’t been straightforward , LGBT people had to fight for the right to legally exist before Marriage even joined the equation. To dismiss legal polygamy as part of the Equal Marriage to be some unachievable thing is ludicrous and flies in the face of History.

Just like Monogamous people. Many Polyamorous people want to have their relationships recognised in Marriage like anyone else. Just like many Polyamorous people don’t recognise or want Marriage, the point of being able to have the right is important, not who uses it.

To draw a close to this argument, many people voted against the UK Government bill on Equal Marriage because “it could open the debate to Polygamy” it is clear that people are drawing lines in the Equal Marriage debate for us. We shouldn’t be doing this ourselves, we need to make sure that we strive for Marriage Equality for everyone both Monogamous and Polyamorous. We need to stop drawing lines in the debate ourselves.

Why should I be #Backin anything?

It’s the new craze to hit our Twitter feeds here in Northern Ireland. It first arrived in the midst of the peak of Loyalist violence over the Union Flag being removed from City Hall. #BackinBelfast became a buzz phrase over night, part of a campaign by small and big business in Belfast City Centre to draw customers back in after a downturn in sales, because violence drove shoppers away. (Even though the campaign is really a delayed response to the spending drain caused by the wider economic crash of 2008)

Less than a month later (February), Students of Queen’s University Belfast were asked if they were #backinstudents, #backinstudents being a seven person ticket of candidates for positions in the Students’ Union. And now after calls from First Minister Peter Robinson to boycott the Irish News Publication, Twitter is awash with people tweeting about #ImBackingIrishNews. Including me actually, I’m not a regular Irish News reader but I see the call for a boycott as an attack on Press Freedom which must be opposed. So I have genuine reasons and arguments for #backin this one.

I recall taking part in a discussion on Facebook about #BackinBelfast, some argued it was a way of railing against Sectarianism, How? Well by using vouchers to claim cheap meals at Deane’s of course! Whilst others rightfully seen it as an attempt to capitulate on recent woes. The #BackinBelfast hasn’t done anything to help businesses in East Belfast who were worse effected by the outbreaks of sustained violence.  In fact, East Belfast had to organise they own wee mini #backin campaign on Facebook. Which shows just where interests lie in that campaign.

#BackinStudents was just an election ticket, it wasn’t born out of economic or political events, like the other two examples I’ve used. But it shares the opportunism of branding, #backin suggests commitment but to just tweet that requires next to no commitment. Making it a great marketing tool.

Same goes for the Irish News, yes we all should slam Robinson for calling for a boycott. Probably the biggest attack on our MSM (Main Stream Media) by a Politician in decades. But by tweeting #ImBackingIrishNews what am I actually saying? Am I doing anything bar expand the advertising of the paper by tweeting it?

The #Backin label has developed exactly as how it was designed. As a marketing tool and not a symbol of anything and this is why it has grown to be so widely used. Whether or not I should, I don’t think tweeting about backing anything actually does anything bar help some marketing heads somewhere.

Polyamory: Another Victim to Privilege

“Polyamory (from Greek πολύ [poly], meaning “many” or “several”, and Latin amor, “love“) is the practice, desire, or acceptance of having more than one intimate relationship at a time with the knowledge and consent of everyone involved.

Polyamory, often abbreviated as poly, is often described as “consensual, ethical, and responsible non-monogamy.” The word is sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to sexual or romantic relationships that are not sexually exclusive, though there is disagreement on how broadly it applies; an emphasis on ethics, honesty, and transparency all around is widely regarded as the crucial defining characteristic and it is considered distinct from swinging (which emphasizes sex with others as merely recreational).” (Wikipedia Polyamory)

I recently came to terms with being ‘Poly’ after two relationships in which I felt constricted by the fact that I was monogamous but had strong feelings for other people outside of my relationships. I initially dismissed these as me being “afraid of commitment” but with hind sight I’ve been able to re-evaluate. I was quite afraid to talk to people about this for a while in case they thought I wasn’t serious or hadn’t thought it through but I eventually just came out with it, I’m Poly!

And then the misunderstanding, stereotypes and downright disdain began. I was once in a bar with friends and someone in our company started to quiz me about Polyamory and Polygamy which seemed okay starting off but eventually a discussion about the oppressive traditional family unit and sexuality devolved into “so you’re telling me, you can have sex with multiple women and it’s totally okay?! Awesome!” I tried explaining to him that a polyamorous relationship is one with multiple partners who consent to the entirety of the relationship, it isn’t just swinging or a string of one night stands.

It didn’t end there, I’ve had other conversations with people who strongly believe that marriage is something for two people and two people alone (an improvement from a man and a woman at least?) which doesn’t phase me because I don’t believe in marriage, I see it as an oppressive institution but it does bother me because I do believe that if people want to get married, be it in a monogamous or a polyamorous relationship, that they have every right to be. Love is love and it knows no borders and no limits based on any of the homo/transphobic crap fed to us by pulpit and newspaper.

Of course all of this oppression and discrimination derives from the traditional family unit, that elixir of heterosexual monogamous love that provides the Capitalist system with this generation and next generations labour. The man wins the bread through wage slavery, the woman works at home performing vital domestic labour and raises the children who are tomorrows workforce. Anything that doesn’t fit this oppressive, patriarchal mould is railed against.