This is a report from a friend and comrade of ours who was on the pickets in Manchester today. Thoughts on todays strike- was great seeing more students out this time around, and good to see a buoyant attitude amongst the workers on strike. The staff pickets seemed smaller but this may have been because there was less anticipation of scabbing. There were noticeably less students on campus than last time (which was during reading week) which suggests a greater impact on the unis ability to function. Was also good that there was actually a demo this time rather than a rally addressed by the great and the good of the trade union movement. Met some lovely, passionate, and right-on people throughout the day and was treated to a plethora of cigarettes and unhealthy food. That said, the lack of coordination between different groups of activists on campus is clearly becoming a major burden- Anticapitalist Students had to provide the leaflets and banner to keep the student picket line running, and no united meeting/ solidarity campaign existed in the run-up to the day itself. There was also little communication with the trade unions on campus, instead relying on information coming from MMU (whose trade unionists bemoaned a lack of communication with the UoM staff, which reached a level of absurdity when one person had to run between both demos to make sure they met at the right place, because no one had any phone contacts) activists. Also in light of occupations and blockades on other campuses to bolster the strike, it feels like there could have been more done to engage in direct action to support the staff as well as emphasise the fact that the university belongs to all of us. Definitely something to be acted upon for round 3 of coordinated strikes and beyond. As a humorous side-note, Socialist Students and Anticapitalist Students were both asked for speakers at the rally seeing as theyre the only far-left groups on campus with an actual membership. After I gave a short BUT INCREDIBLY ROUSING talk blasting the commodification of our campus and union, and calling for unity and escalation, the local SWP full-timer then tried to convince me to work together with SWSS. I asked if they still existed on campus (casual as you like) and was informed that they are in fact the most active group on campus. I both LOLd and cried inside at the lies the party patriots can tell themselves.
Posted on: Tue, 03 Dec 2013 22:33:47 +0000
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