ULU Campaigner

THURSDAY, 6 OCTOBER 2011

Noam Chomsky: Join us in Trafalgar Square on 8 October
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
> 1) NOAM CHOMSKY: JOIN US IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE ON 8 OCTOBER
> 2) WHY UN COMPOSER PLAYS AT ANTIWAR ASSEMBLY
> 3) STOP THE WAR BRIEFING ON CHILDREN OF AFGHANISTAN
> 4) PLEASE KEEP DONATING
>
> ****************************************
> 1) NOAM CHOMSKY: JOIN US IN TRAFALGAR SQUARE ON 8 OCTOBER
>
> The Antiwar Mass Assembly on Saturday continues to attract high
> profile pledges, the latest from Noam Chomsky and others who have
> issued the following statement:
>
> After 10 years of war in Afghanistan, more than 100,000 Nato
> troops remain and tens of thousands have died. Government claims
> that the war is contributing to Britain’s stability look
> increasingly hollow. Opinion polls suggest the majority of
> Britons want a speedy withdrawal of British troops, a view
> recently endorsed by the trade unions. Politicians have to get in
> step with public opinion and announce a date to bring troops
> home. We will be attending the mass anti-war assembly this
> Saturday 8 October in Trafalgar Square. We urge you to join us.
>
> * To see the full list of those attending, go to:
> http://bit.ly/pBlNMI
> * To see the provisional timetable for the day, go to:
> http://bit.ly/o10L6p
>
> This is clearly going to be a memorable day. It will end with a
> march to Downing Street, led by ex-soldiers and military
> families, to demand that the government bring the troops home
> from Afghanistan now.
>
> Please do all you can in the days remaining to spread the word
> and encourage as many people as possible to join us.
>
> ANTIWAR MASS ASSEMBLY
> 8 OCTOBER 12 NOON – 4PM
> TRAFALGAR SQUARE LONDON
> See http://bit.ly/o10L6p
>
> ****************************************
> 2) WHY UN COMPOSER PLAYS AT ANTIWAR ASSEMBLY
>
> The world-renowned composer Howard Blake, whose compositions
> range from the huge hit “I’m Walking in the Air”, from the
> classic film The Snowman, to his composition titled “Charter for
> Peace” commissioned by the United Nations for the 50th
> anniversary of its founding, which was first performed in 1995
> before the Queen, prime minister John Major, and a host of
> dignitaries.
>
> Howard Blake was so outraged by the United Nations’ resolutions
> in March this year — when it gave the US and NATO cover for
> going to war with Libya — that he has withdrawn the “Charter for
> Peace” from his catalogue, saying:
>
> “The UN resolutions taken over Libya leading up to its invasion
> on March 19th 2011 violated [its] principles and the work is
> withdrawn from the catalogue, since to say that the organisation
> carries out a ‘charter for peace’ is no longer anything but a
> mockery of its formerly professed beliefs.” SEE
> http://bit.ly/nTKN6G
>
> It is for this reason that Howard Blake has offered to play his
> most famous composition “I’m Walking in the Air” at Saturday’s
> Antiwar Assembly in Trafalgar Square. Stop the War very much
> welcomes his decision to join us.
>
> ****************************************
> 3) STOP THE WAR BRIEFING ON CHILDREN OF AFGHANISTAN
>
> Six percent of babies die at birth and 25 percent before their
> 5th birthday. Conflict and political violence force millions of
> children and their families to flee their homes.
>
> A child’s basic right to life and development is seriously
> compromised by growing up in the context of war and occupation.
>
> Afghanistan has become the very worst place on earth to give
> birth to or raise a child.
>
> A new briefing, written for Stop the War by Lisa Davis, director
> of Rights International, with a conclusion by US author and
> activist David Swanson, is available on the Stop the War website.
>
> * For a summary of The Children of Afghanistan, go here:
> http://bit.ly/rdZdLZ
> * To download the full report, go here:
> http://tinyurl.com/5s69xhm
>
> ****************************************
> 4) PLEASE KEEP DONATING
>
> Many thanks to everyone who has donated to our financial appeal
> to cover the costs of the Antiwar Assembly on Saturday. Your
> contributions have helped enormously.
>
> However, we still need to raise more to ensure that we are not
> left with a debt after Saturday, which would hinder the future
> activities we are already planning.
>
> If you have not contributed, please consider giving a donation
> now. Details of the various methods for donating are here:
> http://bit.ly/n0eEh2
>
> If you would prefer to make your contribution by becoming a
> national member of Stop the War, you can do that here:
> http://bit.ly/k0tBVk

Please congratulate them HERE.

‘I’m delighted that the Glasgow occupation has won such a brilliant victory on behalf of staff and students. I just goes to show what solidarity and direct action can achieve. I think everyone should take their example forwards in our campaigns’

Sean Rillo Raczka, ULU VP

"The Free Hetherington occupation has been at the heart of the anti-cuts movement in Glasgow for more than half a year now and we are sad to see it end. It has inspired some of the largest demonstrations ever seen in the city including a 2,000 march on Senate and similar occupations at Strathclyde and elsewhere. What the success of the Hetherington highlights is that the only way we can beat the likes of Anton Muscatelli and Jim McDonald and defend ourselves against these attacks on our education and our welfare state is through direct action.

Solidarity from Strathclyde University Anti-Cuts Action Network."

Bryan Simpson

by T la Palli on August 15, 2011

Students at the University of Glasgow sit-in are celebrating this week after Principal Anton Muscatelli conceded defeat in his attempt to impose swingeing cuts on the University.

The u-turn comes after six months of pressure exerted by students occupying the Free Hetherington led to concessions ensuring a new postgraduate club, no further cuts to courses and no compulsory redundancies at the University.

As part of the deal secured by the Free Hetherington occupation, students will be able to quiz Principal Muscatelli directly in a mass open meeting in October over the lack of perceived transparency of management decisions at the University.

In exchange the students will end their six-month sit-in at 13 University Gardens to allow management to convert the former postgraduate club into lecturing space.

Students say they are enthusiastic about the outcome:

“Six months after management refused to engage with us, we’ve finally won these demands. Direct action and direct democracy work – we’ve proved that and management have accepted it, which in itself is a huge achievement.” – James Humphries, 24, postgraduate student in Philosophy.

They were keen to emphasise that the end of the occupation does not spell the end for activism on campus:

“While we’ve achieved a lot on campus this year the fight absolutely does not end here. We will continue our campaign against tuition fees and ensure management keep their end of the bargain. We will be back” – Laura Jones, 24, student in History of Art.

On 1st February 2011, a group of students entered the disused former Hetherington Research Club on campus and pledged to remain in the building until their demands, which included no course cuts and the reopening the postgraduate club, were met. In the past six months, a large body of students and staff have continually kept up pressure.

For almost two-hundred days the students have been sleeping, studying and campaigning in the former postgraduate club. Their efforts have received international acclaim and attracted visits from celebrities including director Ken Loach, singer-songwriter Billy Bragg and Scottish Makar Liz Lochhead. A packed schedule of events, lectures and workshops has made the Free Hetherington a focal point on campus for thousands of students and members of the local community.

As the longest-running student occupation in UK history, the Free Hetherington has become a lasting symbol of the wave of anti-tuition fees protests and occupations that swept the country in December 2010.

Students will bring the occupation to a conclusion around the end of August. A spokesperson for the occupation said the date would be announced in due course.

Interested media should contact glasgowoccupation@gmail.com.
A bullet point version of the agreement is available. A finalized version is being confirmed with management. In short:

The Agreement

1. No more course cuts.

2. No compulsory redundancies.

3. A new postgraduate club, to be opened in the next year.

4. No cuts for student services, a guarantee of transparency with the SRC (Student Representative Council).

5. A public meeting with the principal Anton Muscatelli, where students and staff may address their worries.

6. No repercussions from the University for staff or students involved in the occupation.

7. An assurance that no information will be volunteered to the police about people involved.

Dear CoR supporters,

Please come to the London Activists planning meeting this Thursday.

As riots erupted across Britain, activists need to come together to plan our response to the government’s brutal cuts and austerity agenda, an agenda which makes young people pay for a crisis they did not cause, an agenda which gives them no stake in society. As our communities are deprived of jobs, services and access to education, a united response is required.

The Coalition of Resistance is holding a planning meeting for London activists, where we we can bring together ideas for actions, engagement and solidarity, against the brutalisation of young people by the police and government.

Date: Thursday 18 August

Time: 6.30-8pm
Place: Room 3A ULU (University of London Union), Malet St, London, WC1.

Please forward this email and here’s the facebook group for you to invite friends: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=147869565296694

After our successful campaign at Soas we urge other students’ unions to start their own Sod Sodexho campaign.

Open Letter to CEO of Sodexo

1st June 2011

Dear Mr Bellon,

This summer, SOAS’ food service contract with a controversial multinational corporation will expire, and the Students’ Union will ensure the company cannot return to our school until it resolves a series of human rights violations overseas.

The SOAS Students’ Union stands together with student organizations in the United States to resolve persistent human rights violations by Sodexo, a food services contractor at many of our universities and students’ unions in the United Kingdom. Based on independent and third-party reports from Human Rights Watch, the TransAfrica Forum, a Commission of Inquiry on Colombia, and United Students Against Sweatshops, we are deeply concerned about this corporation’s pattern of noncompliance with the very United Nations and International Labour Organization standards to which Sodexo itself has publicly committed.

The Students’ Union is proud to say that Sodexo will lose its contract with SOAS this August. This decision came after the Students’ Union stood against a renewal of Sodexo’s contract when it was learned that Sodexo profited through contracts at Guantanamo Bay, detention centres for asylum-seekers, and US military bases in Afghanistan.

SOAS students and staff ran a high profile Sod Sodexo campaign, similar to those happening on the other side of the Atlantic this spring. Students staged occupations of the Brunei Suite (Sodexo’s base on campus) to emphasize how strongly we felt that Sodexo had no place at our university. A number of strategies were adopted, including an all-out boycott of the canteen whilst strategically instituting catering requirements to ensure that Sodexo could no longer provide an adequate service.

We commend students in the United Students who have, in recent weeks, been forced to engage in nonviolent civil disobedience to urge their own universities to terminate contracts with Sodexo worth many millions in U.S. dollars. We express our support especially to those fifty-six students who have been arrested in the last month during a wave of sit-ins at the offices of university presidents who have rejected students’ demand to drop Sodexo.

Today we declare our intention to do everything within our power to ensure Sodexo will be excluded from the contractual pool for any future contract at SOAS until and unless the corporation takes the following basic steps to prove it is serious about compliance with international labour standards, as has been communicated previously to Sodexo by United Students Against Sweatshops, various organisations of Sodexo workers and other advocates:

1. Re-hire Carina Mieses and the other Sodexo workers fired in the Dominican Republic after leading efforts to demand unpaid wages and forming the union SitrasodexoDO.

2. Obey the order of the Colombian Labor Ministry and begin bargaining in good faith with Sodexo workers and their union Sinaltrainal.

3. Publicly agree to recognize, without delay, workers’ unions through whichever legal method workers choose to pursue, which in the United States must include the majority sign-up or “card check” method.

4. End sub-poverty wages for Sodexo workers at U.S. universities by raising wages to a level such that a full-time worker would learn no less than the Federal Poverty Threshold for a family of four, and publicly commit to working towards paying a “living wage” such that full-time workers can afford the local costs of basic necessities.

We are now encouraging all Students’ Unions in the UK to ensure that Sodexo does not continue to operate on our campuses until said demands are met.

Sincerely,

Sebilio Uribe, Jasper Kain and Milaad Rajai (SOAS Students’ Union co-Presidents)

Save The Africa Centre: Emergency Protest, Thursday 11:30am

(Sign the petition: http://www.gopetition.com/petition/44717.html )

What is the Africa Centre?
It’s a building in Covent Garden called the Africa Centre (see http://africadatabase.org/index.htm), which is run by a charity of the same name. It has a 40 year history of being a vibrant site for maintaining and projecting the culture of Africa, Africans and the Diaspora, through arts events, exhibitions and concerts. Visitors and performers have included Ken Saro-Wiwa, Jacob Zuma, Alice Walker, Chinua Achibe, Maya Angelou, Lynton Kwesi Johnson, Ben Okri, Yasmin Alibhai-Brown and Desmond Tutu.

What’s Wrong?
In March 2011, news leaked that the trustees had secretly decided to sell off the centre to property developers, without consultation and without any firm plans (or money) for a replacement centre. There is huge opposition to this from some trustees, members of the Africa Centre, supporters and Africans around the country. The building is not theirs to sell. The Africa Centre was given, in perpetuity, by the Catholic Church in the 1960s to the people of Africa and its diaspora. It will mean the loss of an important cultural and political asset for London. It also marks a blow to efforts to celebrate diversity and our international heritage, at a time when barriers and prejudices need to be challenged.

What Was The Response?
A campaign to prevent this has since kicked off (http://savetheafricacentre.wordpress.com) with high profile backing from Archbishop Demond Tutu (see this video), Mayor Boris Johnson (see this letter to the Times), Mo Ibrahim, Youssou N’Dour and a petition signed by about 1500 people. At the very least, the campaign is looking for the trustees to postpone the sale until after an emergency general meeting (EGM) with members of the centre, scheduled for 20th June.

Why the Emergency Protest?
The campaign has just discovered that the Chair of the trustees plans to secretly sign a legally binding option to sell the centre to Capital and Counties property developer (Capco) this Friday 3rd June. Once this is done, the building will have to be sold to them, however the developers will have some time to review the price and haggle for a cheaper deal. This will deny Africans and supporters of the centre the opportunity to oppose the sale and turns a democractic EGM into a stage-managed rubber stamping of the deal.

What Do We Do Now?
Emergency Protest
Meet: 11:30am
Venue: The Africa Centre, 38 King Street, Covent Garden, WC2E 8JT
Wear: Red and Black or African dress
The protest will take place to the sounds of Fela Kuti’s “No Agreement”.
For more information please contact Dele Fatunla (delefatunla)