On Wednesday 30 November, students, at Royal Holloway University of London, including supporters of ‘Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!’, occupied the administrative centre of the university in solidarity with the N30 strikes and in protest against budget cuts being imposed by the university management.
Throughout the year there has been dialogue between the local UCU branch and the senior management over the planned redundancies of 22 members of teaching staff and a major restructuring of various courses, including the removal of Italian as a course and major attacks on the Classics and Philosophy Department.
The demands of the occupation are:
1. That the Principal, Paul Layzell, publicly condemns the HE white paper and calls for it to be withdrawn.
2. No course closures. 3. No job cuts, redundancies or adverse changes to staff terms and conditions.
4. Bursaries for all students who need them- not fee waivers.
5. No cuts to library funding, student support or learning resources.
6. No cuts to access schemes or foundation courses.
7. A guarantee that the university will not enter into relationships with more for-profit providers than it is already involved with and that it withdraws from contracts with for-profit providers.
8. To lobby College Council for greater representation of students and staff on Council.
9. To circulate this commitment in writing to all staff, and to make it available to students via www.rhul.ac.uk
10. No victimisation of students involved in the occupation or lecturers who support our actions. Similar actions are taking place across the country, including at the University of Birmingham, as students stand up to the ongoing further privatisation of Higher Education.
We are standing against the way in which the austerity measures, endorsed by Labour and Tory alike, are forcing the people of Britain to pay for the crisis of the capitalist system.
No cuts full stop!
We stand for people, not profits!
