Our Students' Union is not representing its students in the UCU strikes

Tom Hewitt -

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With UCU strike action underway, Tom Hewitt regrets the position that the SU has taken, arguing that it is not fulfilling its duty to represent student interests.

When I was a little boy I naively thought that there were such things as incontrovertible facts. An incontrovertible fact being, a fact that cannot be denied or disputed. Facts that I put under this list included: that light travels faster than sound, that the England football team is terrible, that the primary job of a union is to stick up for the rights and interests of its members.

But, as Bristol’s Student Union and the NUS have educated me in the last week, there is actually no such thing as an incontrovertible fact. I know this because I discovered it is in fact official SU policy to conspire against the rights and interests of us as students. Let me elaborate.

It is in fact official SU policy to conspire against the rights and interests of us as students

As you all know, our lecturers are currently striking against proposed changes to their pensions - changes that could potentially leave them tens of thousands of pounds out of pocket. Quite rightfully, their representative body, the University and College Union (UCU) is taking this drastic action. I say rightfully, because the job of the UCU is to represent the rights and interests of its members; these proposed pension changes are not in the interests of its members.

If I was a lecturer I would not hesitate to join the picket line. But I am not a lecturer, I am a student. And as these strikes are not in my interest - due to my teaching being cancelled - and are violating my right to receive the tuition I have paid for, naturally my first port of to call was to ask my union, the SU, for support. Boy was I to be let down.

I have always known that student unions have tended to be dominated by the far left. Not because all young people are Marxists, but because most of us are normal and therefore have got better things to do; whether that’s drinking copious amounts of alcohol, playing sport or maybe even doing a bit of work.


Is the SU representing students in the strike action? (Epigram / Evy Tang)

The downside of us having better things to do is that a small minority, the hard left, have filled the vacuum. Elected on pathetic turnouts, these individuals have taken over our unions. But despite this, due to the existence of incontrovertible facts I thought even these Marxists would have no choice but to stick up for us.

So what is the official SU position on the strikes? The SU fully supports the 14 days of strike action. The SU leadership also wants to pass a motion at the AMM on 27th February, extending support for any UCU strike action that occurs in the next three years. If passed this will mean the SU could potentially end up supporting strike action during our exam season this summer.

If I was a lecurer, I would not hesitate to join the picket line

Most insulting of all though is that it is explicit SU policy to oppose a refund for our lost tuition. So what this means is that our SU is telling the University, that we as students do not want to be refunded. So don’t bother complaining to the Vice-Chancellor about a refund, because thanks to the SU, he’ll just turn round and say that we, collectively, don’t actually want one. I’d go as far as to say, that the SU is actively conspiring against our interests with this policy.

As I haven’t met a single student who agrees with this, this raises questions about the process the SU went through to develop its stance. To find out more, I contacted some bloke I’d never heard of before (who we pay £19,000 a year), called Mason Ammar. This individual, who purportedly represents the academic interests of students, informed me that this stance was developed in consultation with another thing I’d never heard of, the ‘Education Network Committee’. Despite the pompous sounding name, what this essentially is, is a vapid Facebook group with a mere 327 members. I was also informed by Mr Ammar, that it is official union policy to fight against what he described as the ‘marketisation of higher education’, and that this motion was passed by something called the ‘Student Council’ (?).

I am calling on the SU to put aside the ideology, stick up for us, and do its real job for once

The combination of these two things, apparently gives the SU the right to say that the position of we, the students of Bristol, is that we do not want a refund for our lost tuition. Considering Bristol has over 20,000 students, I really don’t think it’s acceptable that the SU only consulted a few hundred people, students who I suspect share the same hard left agenda, about by far the most significant issue to have affected students in many years. The SU should have consulted with all students via MyBristol or a form advertised by email, preferably both.

In the final analysis, I do question what the point of a Students' Union is if it can’t be bothered to stand up for its members, or worse conspires against them. I really don’t see why it’s fine for the UCU to stick up for lecturers, but not fine for the SU to stick up for students. So I am calling on the SU to put aside the ideology, stick up for us, and do its real job for once.

Featured image: Epigram / Cameron Scheijde

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