Stop Supporting Industrial Action - Take a Neutral Stance
Category: Idea
Voting closed
The Liverpool Guild of Students should take a neutral stance on lecturer strike action, neither supporting, nor condoning it.
Students understand the grievances of lecturers, and their strike demands, but it is not the responsibility of paying students to aid lecturers in achieving their demands. We believe that it is not in the best interest of students for the union to rally behind and support strikes.
Strikes directly affect the education of students, causing disruption to all forms of teaching. We are paying for our education, and deserve to receive it without interference. The guild should not take stances on matters of dispute between staff and their employers, instead, it should focus on less political issues that can directly benefit the student experience. Some student groups have taken it upon themselves in recent days to go as far as "claiming" the top floor of an educational building, achieving little more than some dancing TikTok’s and an immense disruption to students, the Guild should not support actions such as these - as some of the current student officers have done.
This idea does not ask for the Guild to condone strikes either, but it should focus less on University working condition politics, and more on students. Directly supporting strike action ostracizes some of the student body that just want to get the education that they are paying for - especially in the case of international students who do not have a loan with an expiry date. Students should feel supported by the Guild to access the education they deserve, and should not be compelled or shamed by their union for crossing picket lines.
Thank you for considering this idea. I (the writer) personally support better pay and working conditions, and believe the University should do more, but it is simply not students’ responsibility to get involved in such debates, don't we already have enough stress on our plates? Don't support strikes, don't condone them, take a neutral stance.
Comments
You can’t be neutral on workers rights, I’m proud the Guild stands with all staff taking industrial action.
Staffs working conditions are our learning conditions. It is important we stand in solidarity with our members of staff. The Guilds purpose is to represent student voices as a students Union. The UCUs current dispute includes that of PGR students, who currently are not recognised as staff and are undervalued and overworked by this University. Your proposal states that the Guild should instead sit idly by whilst PGR students are actively exploited by this university. The Guild has a responsibility, with the support of its Student Officers, to be active in University politics. The Guild also has a responsibility to educate students about the strikes and support its PGR students in this dispute. Supporting the strikes also puts pressure on the university, with the Guild the largest student representative body on campus. You cannot be neutral when it comes to workers rights. Therefore this idea should not be considered, and the Guild should continue to support Industrial Action.
The irony that you claim to support strikes yet want to revoke our collective support for them is massive. Students' Unions are political institutions whether you like it or not, and as gas already been said, Staff Working Conditions are our learning conditions.
This idea that the guild should focus on "less political issues" surely doesn't extend to support with cost of living or tuition fees. It doesn't extend to the guilds focus on sustainability, support of the LGBTQ+ community. Why is industrial action the only instance where the guild is deemed "too political". Why is inaction in respect to industrial action taking place at the very institution in which you operate not inherently political. I cannot think of an issue more tied up with the student experience than the experience of those teaching. We as students cannot be so short sighted as to dismiss our lecturers and expect a better university experience from it. Inaction on the part of the student body would show a lack of compassion, solidarity and forethought.
Taking a neutral stance is as bad as being against the strikes. The way we get our education back is by standing by our lecturers in their dispute. Lecturers are under immense strain due to the cost of living crisis and intense workloads. They cannot teach us to the best of their ability subsequently. Therefore supporting the strikes will mean better learning environments for students. We cannot pretend that our livelihoods are not intertwined. The Guild should campaign on political issues. Everything is political and burying our heads in the sand will mean we get shafted harder by the government and university management. Down with scabbing and get out and support your lecturers
Also campaign against international student fees then babes xx
The idea of "paying" students as if we are customers deserving of the exploitation of our lecturers is ludicrous. These lecturers were students once and many students will go on to be lecturers. Education is not a commodity it should be a human right and the university should be a place of sharing knowledge between students and lecturers. The student UNION (inherently political) should support lecturers and represent all students including post graduate who are on the most casualised contracts. The selfishness of this change it is not representative of the wider student body as we found out in the preferendum held by the guild last year which told us that students overwhelmingly support the strikes and that the guild should represent this view.
Students didn’t ‘claim’ to take the top floor of a building, they literally took it. It’s called direct action xoxox