By Anna Jordan, News Reporter
The National Union of Students (NUS) and National Education Union (NEU) have both backed the upcoming International Youth Strike on November 20.
On the same day, the University and College Union (UCU), which largely represents academic staff, called for a ‘National Day of Action’ over the higher education crisis - with UNISON joining in support of university professional services staff.
Students across the UK joining the Youth Strike plan to walk out of their schools and universities under the slogan ‘Fight for our future, not their wars!’.
The University of Bristol looks to see a student walkout the same day, following widespread dissatisfaction with the government’s neglect of higher education.
This includes the Labour government’s two consecutive years of cuts to university funding and teaching grants, alongside rising military spending, as National Chair of Socialist Students Adam Powell-Davies commented.
The NUS, representing over 7 million students, joined in response to the Chancellor John Healey’s Autumn Budget statement on October 28.
The union cited its dissatisfaction with the lack of measures to address student loans, the slow growth rate of the minimum wage for 18- to 20-year-olds, and the lack of detailed funding for universities and colleges.
The NEU intend to support students partaking in the protest by informing them how to safely participate whilst abiding by legal requirements.
Powell-Davies said bringing together all these unions will result in a ‘day of action right across education.’
Megan Mitchell
Beth Robinson
Bristol Socialist Worker Student Society (SWSS) plans to walk out of classes and lectures outside Senate House at 11 AM, November 20, before joining a protest on College Green at 1 PM.
The walkout coincides with World Children’s Day and the anniversary of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child - which includes the right to peaceful assembly and to freedom of expression.
Featured image: Epigram / Ellen Reynolds
