London Metropolitan University Occupied
Published:
May 11, 2009 19:40
by
An Anarchist of London
Neighbourhoods: whitechapel
Breaking news:
Time now: 19.53, Monday. Urgent call out to East London Comrades - police expected by 9pm tonight!
Just recieved this:
WE HAVE OCCUPIED PART OF THE COMMERCIAL ROAD BUILDING.
I have recently received a phone call from the schoolkeepers informing me that the management will be calling the police to end the occupation at 9pm sharp tonight.I have informed the media of this and expect that there will be coverage.
Also sent our head of department, Brian Falconbridge, an email telling him that the actions of the management will be monitored by the media and that we have a meeting with George Galloway on Thursday at the Houses of Parliament regarding his incompetence.
Don't let them push you around! If you support your fellow students and don't want to be fucked over by the management, go to Commerical Road before 9pm tonight!!
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This is part of the campaign against London Metropolitan Universities plans to restructure. Read here for more
London's biggest university- London Metropolitan University- is in the grips of a massive financial crisis threatening the entire future of the university.
1- The Government recently found that London Met had claimed that it had 7,000 more students than it actually did.
2- Every university receives an amount of money as funding PER STUDENT, so London Met had received millions of pounds too much.
3- Not only has London met been ordered to pay back the money (which it doesn't have), but the budget has also been cut by £15 million a year.
4- To attempt to recover the money, London Met plans to impose devastating cuts- ONE IN FOUR members of staff are being made redundant, ALL BUT TWO libraries are to be closed (one City, one North), the Nursery will be closed, and many modules and courses are being closed.
5- In short, those who are not responsible for the financial problems are being punished for them- the staff and students.
6- The university is being run as a business, yet if it is a business then we the students are the customers, so why have the management not informed us and ACTIVELY LIED to us about the crisis and the cuts?
7- By losing OVER HALF OF OUR STAFF on some courses, we will not be able to continue receiving the standard of education we have been. The University cannot survive these cuts.
8- There is good news- YOU can help save the university. Everyone can. Any student or member of staff willing to get up and do something about this can stand up and fight.
9- It is a lot easier to help than you think [see below]. Let those who have already done so much for the campaign and have already started turning things around be your example.
10- We have received enormous media coverage and over 50 MPs have expressed deep concern at our situation.
Additions
Assume this is where it is...
Published: May 11, 2009 20:17
by
students for an open university
Yes ...
Published: May 11, 2009 20:45
by
suppoert the occupation!
This is the LMU campus that has bem occupied:
41-47 Commercial Road, London E1 1LA.
From a student's email ...
Published: May 12, 2009 18:58
by
support the occupation!
URGENT CALL FOR HELP
We still have control of part of the building! Police came... and went, there was nothing they could legally do.
We've just been informed that the governors are getting in security to man the door and make sure nobody can
enter or exit, so we desperately NEED MORE PEOPLE TO OCCUPY!
Get your arses to the Commercial Road building, Aldgate East tube station, floor 6 (the cafeteria).
Now it's time for action, so step up to the plate! Bring your work with you, any food or drink,
sleeping bags, make a night of it, anything!
We are receiving press/media coverage so the more people we have the better.
Latest articles feed
London Met UCU Strike
Reports and interviews from the picket lines by Communist Students.
On Thursday May 7 Communist Students were up at the crack of dawn to attend the picket lines at London Metropolitan University, showing our support for the strike action against outrageous cuts proposals following severe mismanagement and bureaucracy. The pickets were quite well attended and there was a positive mood amongst the strikers. Students largely stayed away from university, and those who did turn up on the day were more than willing to listen to the arguments around the strike, put their names to the UCU petition and then either go home or stay on the pickets for a while. CS distributed a leaflet and received a warm response from UCU members.
In the afternoon there was a rally of about 200 people outside the main campus on Holloway Road. There were numerous speakers ranging from Jeremy Corbyn MP and George Galloway MP to National Union of Students President Wes Streeting. The latter speaker was of course of interest to us: after initially saying that students need UCU strike action “like a hole in the head” given the current climate, he very clearly came out in support of the strike. It remains to be seen whether he will be so clearly in favour of UCU national action should the current ballot be successful. We support UCU members taking action nationally and will support them all we can. In our leaflet, we also put out the call for local university solidarity committees to assist any future action. In this vein, CS was also present at the demonstrations in Liverpool on Saturday May 9 against closures at John Moore University.
Below are two interviews we conducted with London Met UCU members that give a bit more background into the dispute. If you would like further details about what is going on at London Met and how you can get involved, go to:
http://www.ucu.org.uk
http://savelondonmetuni.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?sid=3210980cf9141509b90c079cc012fec8&gid=46966049540&ref=search
Amanda Sackur, Chair of London Met UCU and member of the UCU NEC
AS: We are on strike out of frustration in our campaign to save the university from the cuts that management want to impose. Other roads do not seem to be getting us anywhere, so this is the only way that we can take action and demonstrate the importance and sincerity of the campaign.
CS:The cuts are likely to have a disproportionate effect on university workers who are not in the UCU but members of Unison. Could you describe some of the things you have done to try and get these workers behind the campaign?
AS: I cannot speak for Unison, but from conversations with Unison workers there is absolute anger about this institution being driven into the ground, and unsurprisingly not an insignificant amount of concern for their own livelihoods and futures. But UCU and Unison are running a joint campaign - we are linked together with the students too in order to present a united front against the university management.
CS:And what is the sentiment amongst students?
AS: Most students are very angry indeed. We attended a meeting which was called at very short notice yesterday in one particular building, and there were about 150 students there. This reflects their bad treatment by the management and the fact that they have not been informed of this at all - there has not even been formal consultation along the lines of some of the things we have been going through.
CS:How does this fit in with the picture across the country and the proposed cuts at numerous institutions?
AS: I think there is a certain mood for fighting back across the country. In Doncaster for example, the cuts have been averted, restructuring withdrawn completely and the principal and director of finance have gone.
CS:But are these cases isolated ones or is such a sentiment present across the country? For example, London Met has quite a history of taking action.
AS: I do think workers are starting to get organized - there is a national ballet at the moment. But you are right that London Met is a special case - not only for historical reasons - but also simply due to the sheer scale of the job losses. When you are talking of seeing a quarter of the work force cut in one go, that transforms the institution completely. So as appalling as some of the other threats are nationally, they are on a smaller scale than here.
Alan, teacher at London Met
I have been working here for almost 34 years. We are on strike today to try and bring attention to a series of cuts that are taking place on an enormous scale. We are expecting to lose around 550 Full-Time Equivalents, which translates into about 800 people’s jobs. We are getting support from students, other trade unionists and from local trade unions involved in similar struggles at the moment - trying to fight what amounts to a general crisis in the education sector because of under-funding from the government. This university was established partly in order to offer education for students from disadvantaged backgrounds, but now this central purpose has been undermined by government cuts. That is why we are on strike today, we hope it will be successful and we ask for all your support.
http://communiststudents.org.uk