Education. It’s Ours

Por Jo Grady — Tribune

Higher education is facing its biggest crisis in living memory.Up and down the country we see university bosses taking an axe to workers’ jobs. It has been estimated that over 30,000 jobs and 4,000 courses have been cut from higher education in the last three years alone — the majority on the Labour government’s watch. This is unprecedented.In many places there is an assault on staff pensions, terms and conditions. Workloads are rising and pay has been eroded year after year. Experienced educators are being pushed out of the profession. And its students who pay the price with fewer lecturers, courses and support services. Our young people are being asked to take on more and more debt for an education that has been devalued.The UK’s universities are supposed to be one of our proudest achievements, but decades of underfunding and a failed market-driven model has pushed the sector into freefall.Yet despite the chaos unfolding across our universities, the Labour government has thus far refused to take any action to stabilise the situation. Higher education desperately needs a long-term funding plan. Right now, it is nowhere to be seen.At the University and College Union (UCU), we see the consequences every day at branch level. The new academic year is only just beginning, and yet there is already a wave of workplace disputes taking shape across the country. Our members are not just fighting to defend their jobs, terms and conditions, they’re also fighting to defend education as a public good. These disputes are likely to multiply over the coming weeks and months. We will back our members all the way as they stand up for what is right. We will not stand by as higher education falls into decline. That is why UCU has launched the ‘Education. It’s ours’ campaign.The campaign starts from a simple idea: education belongs to all of us. Educators pass on their knowledge to future generations. Students gain the knowledge they need to build a successful future. Wider society benefits from a well-educated population.So why is it that higher education is increasingly treated like a marketplace rather than a public service? The right wing in this country talk about taking back control, well it’s time to take back real control of our education system.We are demanding immediate investment in higher education, the protection of our members jobs, terms and conditions, a new long-term funding model based on public investment, a fairer approach to international students and a greater say for staff and students in the governance of institutions.I have been on picket lines and in workplaces across the UK in recent weeks, and it is clear the sector is in crisis, and our response as a union must match the moment. We are backing and resourcing every local dispute. We will be bringing together striking branches. We have a political and media engagement plan, and in November the leadership of the union will tour the UK to promote union membership and participation in our campaign.This campaign is about building the power to win. We need to grow our membership and build density in every university workplace. We need to strengthen our branches and build their capacity to fight. We need to deepen connections with students, communities, and the wider trade union movement. And we need to increase our political power and influence.We cannot go into the fight for the future of higher education without doing the hard yards, building the union and being ready to stand up in every workplace. We can and we will get to that place.There are no shortcuts to building that strength. Every member of UCU has a part to play. And we will need the support of our allies across the trade union movement and beyond.Education belongs to all of us. It’s ours. Let’s make sure it has a brighter future.Support the campaign at educationitsours.org.uk

Fonte: Tribune