Question of NUS membership to be settled with referendum
York students will vote in a referendum next term on whether the Students’ Union will retain its membership of the National Union of Students (NUS).
The decision to hold the referendum was taken at a meeting of the YUSU Senate on Wednesday. The motion was proposed by Louis Wihl, Chair of Alcuin JCRC, and stated that the YUSU President must call a referendum on the question “Should the University of York’s Student Union maintain it’s affiliation with the NUS?” in week six of the Autumn term 2007.
Senate, which consists of YUSU officers, JCRC chairs voted almost unanimously in favour of the motion. Anne-Marie Canning, who will be President of YUSU when the referendum takes place, described it as “an educational tool,” and expressed a hope that the debate surrounding the referendum will “get people interested in NUS and what they’re doing for us.”
According to Colin Hindson, YUSU Communications Officer, the referendum will be held in the middle of the Autumn term so that first-year students have a chance to settle in before the vote takes place.
This is the first referendum that the student body will have held in more than six years. In order to pass, voted approval by 6.75% of students will be required, meaning that more than 650 students will need to mobilise to vote if a decision is to be made.
Matt Burton, who will replace Amy Woods as YUSU Services and Finance Officer next year, has expressed concerns that despite having less than a third of the number of student members that unions like those of the universities of Leeds or Manchester, York are paying only £12,000 per year less for NUS affiliation than these far larger institutions. Burton said that “they [Manchester and Leeds unions] can pay that much without blinking, whereas we have much more trouble finding that amount of money.”
When asked if the NUS represented good value for money at the price York are expected to pay, Canning said “We can milk NUS for more, and I fully intend to do that. But I do think they offer us a good deal.”
Rich Croker, the current YUSU President, whose election manifesto last year included the promise to re-assess York’s membership of the NUS, said that “if students choose to disaffiliate, then that is what we should be doing, and it’s good that we’re going to referendum. The one thing we need is a properly conducted referendum on this.”
However, Wihl was keen to stress that he himself is not in favour of leaving the NUS, claiming he merely wants to “promote the NUS and show everyone why it’s a good thing.” He said that “discussions on this issue are happening at a lot of universities around the country, and it would be good for York to have that discussion here.”
The NUS affiliation fee that York pays is due to drop in the next year from £36,000 to £32,000, but questions have still been asked as to the value for money that membership represents at that price.
Gemma Tumelty, President of the NUS, told Nouse that the NUS was “committed to reducing the amount of money that your union spends on affiliation,” and argued that the NUS “does make a difference to your [students’] everyday life – from supporting your union, to lobbying the government on student issues.” Tumelty highlighted the NUS’s recent lobbying successes on council tax exemption and student tenancy.
