Comments on: YUSU defy NUS over boycott http://www.nouse.co.uk/2006/05/04/yusu-defy-nus-over-boycott/ Award-winning University of York Student Newspaper Fri, 04 Jul 2008 20:57:13 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Professor Hardright Bonehead http://www.nouse.co.uk/2006/05/04/yusu-defy-nus-over-boycott/#comment-3031 Professor Hardright Bonehead Tue, 16 May 2006 23:05:20 +0000 http://www.nouse.co.uk/2006/05/04/yusu-defy-nus-over-boycott/#comment-3031 But what type of university are we going to end up with if the AUT action fails? But what type of university are we going to end up with if the AUT action fails?

]]> By: Zed http://www.nouse.co.uk/2006/05/04/yusu-defy-nus-over-boycott/#comment-2561 Zed Sun, 14 May 2006 03:20:44 +0000 http://www.nouse.co.uk/2006/05/04/yusu-defy-nus-over-boycott/#comment-2561 Whatever happened to some solidarity? As anybody ever involved in a employer-union dispute will tell you, they key to resolving the issue when demands are reasonable ( Blair did when he was justifying fees http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/speeches/show.asp?sp=63 ) is pressure - the more pressure is applied to the employers, the quicker they concede. The action YUSU and its peers are taking massivley undermines this - by breaking ranks they reduce the pressure on the VC's, who can then turn around and say to the lecturers 'The Students are against you!'. YUSU suggests they are looking after our interests as students by breaking rank, but the fact is if a united front had been presented to the VC's and supportive action offered by all student unions this may well have already been settled - at the very least it would be settled more quickly. Surely *that* is in student's best interests? Perhaps if our union spent less time desperatley trying not to be a Union ('Senators'...ugh. represent our interests, don't play at being our parliament) and devoted its energies to assisting the lecturers (who we have much more in common with than the VC - whose salary is outrageous yet never mentioned) and some actual political activity (gasp!) beyoned putting up posters then we wouldn't be seeing the marking process paralyzed and one amenity after another privatized or closed for no good reason by the VC. Whatever happened to some solidarity?
As anybody ever involved in a employer-union dispute will tell you, they key to resolving the issue when demands are reasonable ( Blair did when he was justifying fees http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/speeches/show.asp?sp=63 ) is pressure - the more pressure is applied to the employers, the quicker they concede.

The action YUSU and its peers are taking massivley undermines this - by breaking ranks they reduce the pressure on the VC’s, who can then turn around and say to the lecturers ‘The Students are against you!’. YUSU suggests they are looking after our interests as students by breaking rank, but the fact is if a united front had been presented to the VC’s and supportive action offered by all student unions this may well have already been settled - at the very least it would be settled more quickly. Surely *that* is in student’s best interests?

Perhaps if our union spent less time desperatley trying not to be a Union (’Senators’…ugh. represent our interests, don’t play at being our parliament) and devoted its energies to assisting the lecturers (who we have much more in common with than the VC - whose salary is outrageous yet never mentioned) and some actual political activity (gasp!) beyoned putting up posters then we wouldn’t be seeing the marking process paralyzed and one amenity after another privatized or closed for no good reason by the VC.

]]> By: Beano http://www.nouse.co.uk/2006/05/04/yusu-defy-nus-over-boycott/#comment-2373 Beano Thu, 11 May 2006 20:07:05 +0000 http://www.nouse.co.uk/2006/05/04/yusu-defy-nus-over-boycott/#comment-2373 Absolutely agree with YUSU - the strike's affecting exams at Queen's University, Belfast as well and in 3rd year now I really don't have time for listening to lecturers mope about how poorly paid they are - even if I were to agree with them on that, there's no excuse for holding students hostage by refusing to set and mark exams which for many of us form the culmination of our formal academic education. Absolutely agree with YUSU - the strike’s affecting exams at Queen’s University, Belfast as well and in 3rd year now I really don’t have time for listening to lecturers mope about how poorly paid they are - even if I were to agree with them on that, there’s no excuse for holding students hostage by refusing to set and mark exams which for many of us form the culmination of our formal academic education.

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