Westminster Uni students: "No confidence in VC"

A radical anti cuts campaign at Westminster University has started with a bang. At a packed meeting on the Regents Street campus, around 160 staff and students were looking to take action to defend their education.

Speakers from the UCU and Unison outlined the scale of the cuts, which could affect over 150 lecturers, and many support staff by the end of April. Simon, a supporter of Revolution and Westminster student was asked to speak from the platform.

“I spoke in the meeting about the need to unite students with workers. Many students were furious that so much money is being spent on war and greedy bankers instead of our futures”

“I pointed to the militant resistance at other universities from students and staff, and mentioned the establishment of the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, which has just been launched to coordinate action across the country.

I used the disgusting example of the scabbing operation launched by the Student Union at Leeds university against the UCU strike there as something that would not be allowed to happen at Westminster and that students would be firmly opposed to the cuts and support their staff. One student did get up in the audience during the discussion and said he would not support a strike if it disrupted his education, but then three students spoke aftterwards and argued against him, expressing solidarity with their teaching and support staff.

At the end of the meeting there was a proposal for a vote of no confidence in the Vice Chancellor and his entire management team, which was passed unanimously. We all agreed to lobby the VC on 1 March during the next round of discussions.”

“Next, students made their way to Harrow campus where the Union AGM was being held. Recently Westminster University Student Union has been effectively paralyzed by university management, which froze the union’s bank account due to financial irregularities. The university has demanded that a trustee board with many external people on it, appointed by management and brought in for a year to sort out the financial problems. They are even writing a new constitution for the union! Unfortunately the creation of the trustee board went through after a speech by someone from the national NUS office. But there were a lot of people in the room opposed to it on principle and attacks on the independence of the union.”

Simon motivated an anti cuts motion which called on the union to create an active campaign against cuts and to support any industrial action that staff want to take in opposition. It was passed unanimously.

“We then then proposed an emergency motion calling for a vote of no confidence in the VC and his managerial staff. This was also passed, leading to a look of fury on the face of the deputy VC sat at the back of the room. Management ran frantically around after the meeting telling the sabbatical officers that the motion was unconstitutional. They said this was because it was passed after the proposed finish time and had not been submitted two days before. If they resort to to such pathetic bureaucracy it still cannot hide the fact that the meeting endorsed the motion of no confidence in the university management and committed itself to defeat the VC on these issues.”

“At the end of the meeting we signed up another 20 students to the fight cuts campaign. There was also a lot of interest in the campaign from student journalists, and the student radio station offered to promote the anti cuts campaign across the student body. Students at Westminster have struck an impressive blow against management, and they are determined to continue the fight.”