We are winning, keep the pressure going (see link inside to video of council chambers occupation)

Video of Council House Occupation:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zc1dsn77BlQ 

After leaving Birmingham city council chambers (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-11877270) , I have been pleased to find some changes have taken place at Birmingham guild of students.

Solidarity has returned to Birmingham’s students union!

For my entire time at university, I have never heard a guild officer (other than myself) utter or write the words “in solidarity”, for too long solidarity has been treated as something that only far left fringe activist would strive for.

When in fact, I think it is a beautiful thing, one thing that constantly strikes me about the students that I am meeting in anti fees and cuts campaign, is their desire for greater awareness and understanding of other people positions and needs. The students today in the council house demanded that Birmingham’s refuse workers, who balloted 96% percent in favor of action and are having around £4,000 pounds taken off their wages are listened to by the council. I have never seen a student lift a finger to help a refuse worker let alone seen a roomful of students with a working understanding of refuse workers issues.

In the words of Lilla Watson “If you have come here to help me, you are wasting your time.  But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together” this is what built the student movement and the welfare state, the desire to look out for others and there needs not just our own. Solidarity is noble sentiment that we all share and we should voice it as loudly and as regularly as possible.

So I’m delighted to see the guild officer team ending their messages with “in solidarity”

And what a change of line by the guild, after failing to endorse properly previously actions the guild finally got round to supporting the peaceful rally in town today sending out messages on fb and putting it on the guild website. They also didn’t send officers down to criticize the action in front of the press! this I can only describe a productive behaviour by the guild and we should continue to encourage it.

 “There is also a rally taking place in the City Centre today (by the Bullring) at 12:30pm. The Guild of Students continues to support students who wish to protest peacefully and attend the rally. This event is not organized by the Guild or NUS, and has been organized by members of the Education Activist network who are expecting hundreds of students to attend.” – from the guild of student website

Additionally the guild has set up its own fb group http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=267045825745 (join it)  for the stop fees and cuts campaign on Birmingham campus, obviously it has a long way to go in building up the kind of networks it needs, which the “stop fees and cuts in brum” group has already done, but it is finally on the right route.

However, we should still encourage the guild to engage with other social media like twitter and phone trees, e-mail lists and e-mail discussion lists.

And the guild still needs to take the following steps and announce on one of their blogs that they also endorse these five points which Aaron porter backed on Sunday at UCL

• to publicly support all student occupations- on the frontpage of the NUS website and all available media.
• to call immediately for a new wave of occupations as a legitimate form of protest against fees and cuts.
• to organise financial, legal & political aid for all current and future occupations.
• to call a national day of action on the day of the parliamentary vote on tuition fees.
• to officially support any staff taking further industrial action on cuts in the education sector.

So the guild will…

• publicly support all peaceful student occupations- on the frontpage of the guild website and all available media.
• The guild will call immediately for a new wave of occupations as a legitimate form of protest against fees and cuts.
• To organise financial, legal & political aid for all current and future occupations.
• To call a national day of action on the day of the parliamentary vote on tuition fees.
• To officially support any staff taking further industrial action on cuts in the education sector.

if you are not on the phone tree already

Text “No fees” To 07988056867 to receive updates of anti fees and cuts protests and stunts in Birmingham.

In solidarity

stop fees and cuts in birmingham

Previously Unseen Footage from the Birmingham University Occupation Released !

The long wait is over!

This is the OFFICIAL INSIDER VIDEO DOCUMENTARY from the Anti-Cuts Occupation by Birmingham students:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zS9m5LKr4SQ

Enjoy!

Some thoughts for the Guild of Students

As we think and talk about what we should do next, I feel I should give the guild some thoughts on what it could do next.


The guild and several officers in particular, please stop attempting damage and attempting to smother anti cuts movement on campus.


Dora Meredith President and Rob Hunter VPEA: despite repeatedly stating you had no time to support the Guilds Unison allies, even in minimal actions such as sending out one facebook message, twitter or e-mail. You did seem to find the time to come down for several hours and give out your criticism and let you disapproval be known on T.V and Birmingham papers. Making the student movement look rather odd and divided is not the way forward. 


 (Unison & UCU are fighting on campus on behalf of students for lower fees and to keep staff wages at decent rate some staff are being paid £12,915, yet are taking 4.4% cuts, while their managers have taken none themselves, the guild still refuse to back them).


I know you think it is impossible to send messages of support like other well respected allies like unison and UCU.


Unison “@stopcuts brum Thanks from Bham Uni Unison Exec for the support yesterday & congrats on a peaceful, lively, tuneful demo”


Birmingham UCU “On behalf of the University of Birmingham branch of the University and College Union, we would like to send our solidarity to the students taking non-violent action at the University of Birmingham. Our higher education system is under a sustained attack that will turn the clock back on generations of social progress, democratic advance and educational achievement. Under the government’s proposals, our country looks set to become the most expensive place to study in the world, while the cuts to public funding represent an unprecedented attack on the fundamental basis of our education system, an attack that may well lead to the closure of colleges and universities. Your action is an inspiration to staff and students seeking to oppose these vicious attacks. - Birmingham UCU Committee”


Aston UCU - Aston University UCU committee sends our support and solidarity to students in occupation at Birmingham University. The attacks on universities threaten to destroy the sector as we know it, barring generations from the benefits of higher education. Staffs stand with students in the struggle to defend education, access and the right to knowledge. Your actions give us hope. In solidarity, Aston UCU.


But is really worth, coming down, stopping your work, purely to come down slag students off? I disagree with many things you are doing, but I’m only criticizing you for the things you are not doing, rather than the things you are doing because I don’t want to damage your efforts.


Rob Hunter (VP Education) at one point you took the UNISON and said 'thank you for coming to this demonstration ...' as if you personally hadn’t angrily argued against a motion in support of it the previous week, told students not to attend the rally and refused the publicize the rally.


Ashley Chambers VP democracy and Resources and Rob Hunter: you came into the sit in at the Aston Webb, telling students involved that the university was going to come down hard on them and that they should leave. In future do not turn up again if your only purpose is to try and bully and scare students involved.
why ar you still, claiming that by joining, Birmingham City university students union, Unison, the Universities and Colleges Union and the National Union of Teachers in Criticizing a establishment that has been vigorously active in pushing for cuts to higher education and for no cap on tuition fees will, make it a fringe organization with no relevance in the debate.


Criticizing the university does not make the guild a fringe party without a foot in the door; such an accusation is ridiculous, quite the opposite it means it is not taking part in the meaningful dialogue on campus between the unions and the university. Rob hunter, Dora Meredith and Ashley chambers team mislead students by claiming that for a guild council motion on 18/11/10 would take the guild out of the rational debate despite it being in line with Unison, UCU policy i.e the majority of political organizations on campus.


For a Students Union Taking part in the dialogue between the university and unions is common sense, especially since staff unions are currently now bargaining on behalf of students to keep fees down without the guilds help. A ridiculous position for the guild to be in, sidelining themselves for the sake of avoiding a group on the spurious reason that they believe in principle in free education, which the political clique in charge of the NUS seems to have an anathema over.


These organizations, UCU and Unison, are our main allies nationally; the guild has now shamefully adopted a position in which they are its opposition locally.


Ashley chambers: you slam students for not getting involved on your officer blog http://guildvpdr.wordpress.com/2010/11/19/guild-council-coulda-woulda-shoulda/ and threaten to cause students who don’t turn up to guild council hassle.


Yet at the same time, in the only forum for how the guild should run its campaign, your fellow officers Dora Meredith and Rob Hunter have failed to act on single one of the very reasonable requests made at the meeting, which I will list below in the hope they are finally done.


At the same time as threatening students for not coming along to meetings, the guild brazenly ignores students who do, no wonder the guild is failing to engage and empower students. The guild needs to starting offering students more than the stick as a reason to get involved in campaigning. I want guild councilors and students to become more active, more involved as well, I would do so by inspiring them, giving them training and chance to have meaningful input not by threatening to take away my personal patronage.


1. The guild create a Facebook group, phone tree, e-mail list for fees and cuts campaigning, so it has a dedicated communication channel for this campaign.


2. The Guild to back the Unison/ UCU protest on campus on the 24th and outreach to these organizations.


3. Give permission to Unison and UCU to use the guilds logo on its their leaflets, obviously giving the guild a chance to see and edit the leaflets firsts.


4. To organise speaker events, public debates and training sessions as they are mandated to do, to inspire and empower students to fight against tuition fee increases.


5. The guild of students should start using twitter, a useful social media tool to engage students.


6. Should back its formal allies the right to work campaign, in their activities in Birmingham


7. Back its formal allies the National union of teachers, in their campaigns against cuts and closures around Birmingham.


8. Back its formal allies UCU in their campaigns to keep fees down and staff wages at a reasonable level.


9. To back its formal allies Unison in its efforts to protect university support workers and keep student fees down.


10. The guild should attend the Birmingham unity meetings organised by UCU, unison NUT, NUS, Right to Work and Birmingham city students union.


11. The guild should publish its copy of the sustainable excellence document, which outlines the cuts to be made at Birmingham University, which the university has indicated it is happy for it to do.

Official footage from inside the Aston Webb Occupation will be released in the coming days

Official footage from inside the Aston Webb Occupation will be released in the coming days.

Please if you have any of your own footage from outside and pictures send them in asap, so we can use them in the feature.

Media Roundup for Birmingham Occupation

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11827507
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11831453
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-11827490
http://www.birminghampost.net/news/2010/11/24/forty-students-in-tuition-fees-protest-at-university-of-birmingham-97319-27707298/
http://www.birminghammail.net/news/top-stories/2010/11/24/forty-students-in-tuition-fees-protest-at-university-of-birmingham-97319-27707298/
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/universityeducation/8155328/Tuition-fee-protest-where-demonstrations-will-take-place.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2010/nov/24/tuition-fees-protest
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-11828882
 http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/gallery/2010/nov/24/tuition-fees-students#/?picture=369016104&index=7
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/gallery/2010/nov/24/tuition-fees-students#/?picture=369016101&index=9
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/gallery/2010/nov/24/tuition-fees-students#/?picture=369016106&index=12
http://www.itv.com/central-west/

what next?

Time	25 November · 05:00 - 08:00
Location	The guild of students, old stu dev space (below recption)
Created by:	STOP FEES & CUTS @ Birmingham Uni,
More info	We occupied the Aston Webb, the site of the broken promises of Clegg and bare faced lies of Cameroon. We embarked on this occupation because we believe the Government’s cuts to be economically unnecessary, unfair and ideologically motivated. We stood in solidarity with unions and staff some of whom are being paid £12,915, yet are taking 4.4% cuts - while their management rakes in some of the highest wages in the country and plan on operating on large unnecessary surpluses. We need to continue a vigorous campaign on campus and nationally, come down tomorrow at 5pm @ the guild of students in the old student development space to discuss, what we can do next. If you have not already text no fees To 07988056867, to join our phone tree.

the uni took our internet away

sorry for absence... don't worry we are back online and still fighting for a education that is free to all!