Success in University of Bath Living Wage Battle

Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts and the three trade unions at the University of Bath have declared a victory in their long campaign for a Living Wage at the university.

Press release from Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts:

After months of increasingly vocal protest on campus, the University of Bath has announced to staff this week that they will pay all workers at least £7.85 an hour – the equivalent of a Living Wage! For the lowest paid staff, many of them student workers, this concession from management represents a pay rise of over 20%.

In recent months, Bath Students against Fees and Cuts and members of the local trade unions have staged four demonstrations on campus calling for a Living Wage for all, an end to exploitative contracts and a reduction in overall pay inequality at the University. In February we held a “Vice Chancellor’s Day” party to highlight the growing gap between the highest and lowest paid at the University. We also had two large protests outside meetings of the University Council, and a lobby of University Court at the beginning of March saw Vice Chancellor Glynis Breakwell and Chancellor Edward Windsor forced to take a back door into the meeting to avoid the students and staff waiting outside.

It is no coincidence that University management have backed down now after months of pressure from protests and activism on campus. Campaigns for equality inevitably involve challenging and putting pressure on those with power and privilege, not by obediently “working in partnership” with them. This victory shows what we can achieve when we organise and fight!

Winning a significant pay rise for the lowest paid staff is a big deal. But while we are celebrating this success, the fight for increased equality and better conditions for working and studying at the university has only just begun. The pay increase that the University have offered is in the form of a “pay supplement”, which university managers could take away at any time, over two thousand workers remain on exploitative zero hour contracts, and overall pay inequality on campus is among the worst in the UK.

Bath Students against Fees and Cuts will be continue to fight for:
+ a maximum 5:1 pay ratio between the highest and lowest earners
+ a GUARANTEED Living Wage for all in-house and out-sourced staff
+ democratic control over senior management pay and appointments
+ action to address gender and race inequality
+ secure employment contracts for all staff, including students who work at the university
+ an end to fees tuition fees and a return to free and publicly funded education, which we believe is a right and not a privilege.

On Saturday 28th March we will be attending a national demonstration in Birmingham calling on the Labour Party to support free education and grants, not make weak pledges to reduce tuition fees to £6000 a year.
For more information, and to get involved in the campaign, visit www.facebook.com/freeeducationbath and send us a message.

JOIN US, AND SUPPORT FAIR PAY, EQUALITY IN EDUCATION AND AN END TO FEES AND CUTS!

Standing Stone's Blog caught up with University of Bath student and Living Wage campaigner, Maisie Sanders, who told us:

“Hopefully this will encourage other businesses in Bath, as well as other universities, to pay their staff a Living Wage, especially seeing as the University of Bath employs more staff on the minimum wage than any other UK university. 

“However, there’s still a lot to be done in terms of lobbying the university to put people before profit. Thousands of staff are employed on insecure zero-hour contracts, which discriminate against women and disabled workers, and pay inequality is still staggering with the Vice Chancellor paid one of the highest salaries in British higher education.”

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Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts - A Week of Action

Living Wage lobby of the Bath University Council

In their busiest week yet, Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts undertook three actions for their campaigns against tuition fees and for a Living Wage at the University of Bath.

The actions started with a Living Wage lobby of the University of Bath council, along with the university unions, on Thursday 26th February. Many students have jobs at the university as well as non-academic staff, and many are paid below the Living Wage - an hourly rate calculated according to the basic cost of living in the UK - currently £7.85 an hour. The campaigners started the demonstration at 3.30pm in the stairwell of Wessex House, where the council meeting was being held. Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts campaigner Katy Boyce told us "Around 20 people petitioned and lobbied members of the university council, including the Vice Chancellor, for a Living Wage at the University of Bath. The Vice Chancellor was visibly perturbed by our presence and the confrontation with one of our members".

While on her way to the meeting, demonstrators confronted Vice Chancellor Glynis Breakwell over the issue. Joe Rayment, the Young Members' Officer at Bath University Unison was able to engage in dialogue with the Vice Chancellor. Joe told her "More people than are here today could be paid on  a living wage just with your salary", to which the VC replied "I can do the maths. Joe then replied "Can you do morality?". A video of the confrontation has now exceeded 800 views since the weekend.

                                         Living Wage lobby of Bath University Council

 

When asked about the confrontation and the video, Joe told us "I am incredibly pleased by how far and wide the video has been spread. The fact that the Vice Chancellor is either unable or unwilling to defend her bloated salary is demonstrative of the interests that she is serving through her management of the university."

Free Education banner at the
Bath Half-marathon"

On Sunday 1st March, members of Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts lined the route of the Bath Half-marathon with "Free Education" banners. Several members of the group were also running in the half-marathon. The action was intended to raise awareness at the high-profile event. A campaigner from Bath Students Against Cuts told us "The issue does not just affect current students, but the consequences of extortionate tuition fees will be felt by generations to come".


The final action of the week was a lobby of the Bath University Court - the statutory body representing the interests of the University's internal and external constituencies. Demonstrators from Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts and the university unions began the protest at 3pm on Tuesday 3rd March outside East Building.

Living wage lobby of Bath University Court

Attendees of the Court meeting included Vice Chancellor Glynis Breakwell and Chancellor Prince Edward, who rather than face the campaigners chose to enter the building via the back door. Demonstrators handed out letters from the unions and from students to members of Court, raising their concerns about the university not paying the Living Wage.

                                         Living Wage Lobby of Court Video

Katy Boyce told us "The Court members were generally quite receptive, many of them took leaflets and some even signed the petition."

Joe Rayment from Bath University Unison attended the court meeting: "In the court meet I challenged the VC to commit to a reduction every year in the pay ratio between the highest and lowest paid staff at the university. She said she would not commit to this because if the university is to stay competitive, apparently we must pay our best people well. When I sought clarification about whether this meant that she was threatening to leave if she did not continue to receive large pay rises every year, despite being the highest paid member of staff at the university, she claimed that this was not what she was saying."

If you live in Bath and support Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts, get involved! Their Facebook page is  https://www.facebook.com/freeeducationbath and they post details of meetings and actions there.

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Upcoming Living Wage Action at University of Bath

Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts and the trade unions at University of Bath will be demonstrating outside the University Council meeting, this Thursday, meeting at the Tiki cafe at 3.30pm.

A statement released by the group reads:

"The Living Wage is the minimum amount someone needs to earn to maintain a normal standard of Living. Disgracefully, the University of Bath refuses to pay a Living Wage to hundreds of its staff, the majority of whom are students. In contrast, the University's senior managers are extremely well paid. For example, the Vice Chancellor recently got another payrise, bringing her annual salary to £395,000! To put that into context, it would take some staff well over thirty years to earn what the Vice Chancellor earns in just one. This inequality is staggering, and getting worse. We say it has to stop.

On Thursday, Bath Students against Fees and Cuts will be joining the campus trade unions to call for a Living Wage for all University staff, and an urgent reduction in pay inequality on campus. Come and join us to lobby the University Council into doing the right thing - to pay all staff a wage they can afford to live on!

Meet at 15:30 in Wessex House, in the south stairwell on level 2. To get there, walk past the 4 West Cafe (Tiki) on your left hand side, and take the next door on the left. Bring your best chanting voices and a sign if you can"

 Social media users can join the Facebook event page here.

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University of Bath Vice Chancellor's Day

Vice Chancellor's Day Party at University of Bath

On February 2nd 2015, Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts held a Vice Chancellor's Day celebration, this time at the University of Bath, in recognition of the Vice Chancellor, Glynis Breakwell, having earned three times as much as the lowest paid worker at the university.

Vice Chancellor's Day cake

Over 300 people attended the celebration outside the university library, with music, party hats and a cake with Vice Chancellor's face on it. A petition for a living wage for staff at the university was signed by 295 people, and a card was presented to the Vice Chancellor's Office.

On Monday 2 February, Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts held a celebration to mark the date on which the Vice Chancellor of the University of Bath, one of Bath's biggest employers, earned three times as much as the annual income of the lowest paid worker. The purpose of the celebration was to draw attention to the wage disparity between the lowest paid workers at the university and the Vice Chancellor.

Vice Chancellor Glynis Breakwell currently earns £395,000 a year, compared to the lowest paid workers, who earn around £11,000 a year. The Vice Chancellor recently received a pay rise of £11,000.

Placards at the University of Bath Vice Chancellor's Day

The party comes on the day the Vice Chancellor signed a letter to The Times arguing that cutting tuition fees would "damage the economy, affect the quality of students' education, and set back work on widening access to education." (Note: The hyperlink takes to The Times' paywall, however a screenshot of the article can be found on this Facebook link). Reiss McGuinness, a member of Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts, said "As to be expected."

A student at the party told us: "It was great to get such a positive response from so many students and staff for our Vice Chancellor's Day celebration and more signatures on our petition for a living wage for staff".

The action comes after another Vice Chancellor's Day at Bath Spa University on 23rd January, when the Vice Chancellor there had earned the same amount as the lowest paid worker at the university, and a Free Education march in Bath city centre on 31st January this year.

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March for Free Education - 31st Jan 2015

Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts

For their second action of 2015, Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts and their allies took once again to the streets of Bath for a Free Education march. The march set off from Bath Abbey, up the High Street, across George Street, down Milsom Street and ending at the benches near the bus station, where a rally was held. With over 100 students and supporters marching, chanting and banging drums, the demonstration was impossible to ignore. 

Not since the Occupy camp in 2011 has Bath seen so many active people campaigning for a better future, and Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts show no sign of giving up any time soon, with their numbers increasing with every action.

A rally was held on the steps following the demonstration. Speakers included Dr Mike Carley from University of Bath UCU, Dominic Tristram, the Green Party candidate for Bath, Bruce Galliver, the Bath Spa Students' Union president, local guru Ray Raine and students from both Bath Spa University and University of Bath.

Other groups who joined in the march included Bristol Anarchist Federation, Occupy Bath, the Green Party, Universities and Colleges Union and Bath Against Cuts. Also present were Free Education campaigners from the University of the West of England. One of their campaigners had the following to say: "When we had an occupation, we had people from Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts come over and support us. I'm annoyed at having to pay £9000 a year. Education is a human right. I will come and support anyone who is standing up."

Christopher Roche, Campaigns Officer for Bath UCU, said "it's been inspiring to see so many students, staff and members of the local community coming together today to defend the principle of free education for all. The commodification and marketisation of higher education is hurting everyone, except for senior university managers who are in the business of awarding themselves increasingly absurd pay rises without any comprehensible justification. At last year's national conference, in response to a submission by Bath UCU, the union reaffirmed its opposition to tuition fees and support for a free and publicly funded education system. Our branch will continue to work alongside students who remain committed to making that ideal a reality."

                                          Video of the march and rally

Following a successful party celebrating the day on which the Vice Chancellor of Bath Spa University earned as much as the lowest paid worker outside the main house on 23rd January, Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts will be holding a similar Vice Chancellor's Day party at University of Bath on Monday 2nd February at 12 noon. They've even made the cake.

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Vice Chancellor's Days - Coming to a University Near You Very Soon

Bath Spa Vice Chancellor meme

Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts have announced that they will be celebrating Vice Chancellors Days - the date on which the Vice Chancellor of each university will have earned as much as the lowest paid worker at the universities - at both University of Bath and Bath Spa University. This announcement comes just days after they announced that another march will be taking place on Saturday 31st January, starting at 12:00 noon at Bath Abbey.

The campaigners intend to hold parties with cakes and a large cheque to "celebrate" the occasion.

The dates and Facebook events for the Vice Chancellor's Days are as follows:

Bath Spa University - Friday 23rd January, 12:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/777131672380454

University of Bath - Monday 2nd February, 12:00 https://www.facebook.com/events/1394516767517438

University of Bath Vice Chancellor meme

The University of Bath Vice Chancellors Day will be celebrating the date on which the Vice Chancellor will have earned twice as much as the lowest paid worker. They have also produced a pair of hard-hitting memes that have gone viral this evening on social media featuring the Vice Chancellors of both universities.

Meanwhile, universities across the country will be taking similar actions after members of Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts brought the idea to the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts conference back in December.

In a statement earlier today, Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts said:

"The protests over Vice Chancellor's salaries were designed to coincide with the day when their annual pay would have overtaken the pay of the lowest paid full-time staff. What we found most immediately shocking was how early in the year this actually occurs. In some cases, it is so early in the year that many students have yet to return from their Christmas break.

The initial intention was for a tongue-in-cheek celebration for the Vice Chancellor, the reason being to create a demonstration with a positive, non-intimidatory atmosphere to attract students who may be new to the campaign and new to activism in general. It was also hoped that the staff on campus would appreciate some cake, music and gentle mocking of the Vice Chancellor on their lunch-break.

The aim of the action is to raise awareness of the ridiculous pay disparity between the highest and lowest paid staff, pressure the university management to reassess the current situation and to embarrass the Vice Chancellor as much as possible. We hope that more education bosses realise that they can't get away with accepting six-figure salaries and pay increases of significantly more than other staff.

While Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts have been very proactive in promoting the actions, credit must be given to the member of University of Bath UCU who devised the original idea.

We are very excited to see that these protests are taking place nationwide and are looking forward to seeing what comes next.

Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts stand in solidarity with all students and staff who will participating in these actions. We believe the sharing of ideas between groups is imperative for the progression of the movement."

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National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts Conference 2014

National Camapign Against Fees and Cuts conference

This weekend a group of activists from Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts travelled to Manchester to attend the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts conference, joining other Free Education university and sixth form students from across the country, including people from Warwick, London, Birmingham, Hastings, Manchester, Sheffield and Oxford.

Topics discussed included the future of the Free Education movement, upcoming days of action, and direct action tactics. A series of workshops throughout the weekend conference covered subjects such as safer spaces, the housing crisis, building the movement and education privatisation.
There was a strong emphasis on linking together with other "active minorites" and trying to bring the activist movement together as a whole, acknowledging educational activism as being part of a broader struggle.
 
One of the Bath activists said: "It was encouraging to see such a broad range of people gathered together in support of Free Education. It felt like a productive weekend and this movement is only going to build in anticipation of the general election in May."

"We now have links with other universities and will be working closely with them on future actions. It was very useful to speak to people and share ideas. The workshops were also very useful and there was a very constructive atmosphere."

"There was a real feeling at the conference that this is the real start of the reinvigoration of the student movement."

Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts are currently planning actions for the new year. In the meantime, if you want to get involved, follow them on Facebook and Twitter.

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Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts - #FreeEducation March

This afternoon, over 100 students and allies marched through the streets of Bath to call for the abolition of tuition fees and an end to the marketisation of higher education. Other universities around the country were also undertaking similar actions.

The March for Free Education set off from Bath Abbey at 12:30pm and saw protestors head to the top of the city before singing and chanting their way to a rally in the middle of the new Southgate centre.
As well as Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts (an alliance of students from Bath Spa University and University of Bath), Bath University and College Union (UCU), University of Bath Students Union, Bath Against Cuts, Occupy Bath and the Green Party pledged their full support. Also in attendance were members of BARF Anarchists, The Labour Party, Stop the War Coalition, University of Bath Unison, University of Bath Gender Equality Group, Bath Athiests, Humanists and Secularists, The Quakers, The Socialist Party, Bath Trades Council, Bath Women's Group, Unite the Community and 38 Degrees.

Speakers included students from both universities, Dr Michael Carley From Bath UCU, Joe Rayment from University of Bath Unison, as well as Dominic Tristram, the Green Party parliamentary candidate for Bath and Ollie Middleton, the Labour Party parliamentary candidate.

The students issued a statement earlier in the week regarding their blockades of both Bath Spa University and University of Bath on Wednesday 3 December:

“Education is a right, not a privilege. It is a public good that benefits society. Education pays for itself. We also can tax the big businesses that benefit from education, reduce military expenditure and/or clamp down on tax avoidance. The disruption we're causing is a small price to pay in comparison to the destruction of the education system. If we don't do something about it now then privatisation of education is only going to continue. We want universities and politicians to start taking this issue seriously.”
Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts will be holding an open meeting on Tuesday 9th December at 7.30pm in the Westgate pub, to which all students and allies are invited to attend.

Bath students interviewed had the following to say:

"After a demonstration in London on 19th November with thousands of students in attendance, and subsequent actions that campuses across the country have undertaken this week, including our blockades of the entrances to both campuses on Wednesday, and the occupation in Warwick University, it is clear that there is a revival of the student activist movement and that this is only the beginning of the campaign for free education."

Placards spotted included "All I want for Christmas is an end to tuition fees", "No Cuts, No Fees" and our new favourite placard "David Cameron loves Nickelback."

David Cameron
loves Nickelback

Student Will Pettifer told us "It was important to hold a high profile demonstration in the City of Bath, gather support, network with people who agree with our message, to show Don Foster and the universities that we are not satisfied and won't stop until we get what we want."

Dominic Tristram, the Green Party parliamentary candidate said " Education is a right, it should be free. Education is part of being a rounded person. It should be available to all regardless of needs. That's why the Green Party says no to tuition fees."

Student Maisie Sanders gave us her version of events: "It went really well. over 100 people came. There was lots of support from the public in the streets. The speeches were really good. We've made our voices heard. There were so many people out for the Christmas market who heard what we have to say."

Video of today's demonstration:



Bath Students Against Fees and Cuts Facebook page

Twitter: @Bath_Students

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NUS Pulls Out of Free Education Demonstration - Bath Students Outraged

The National Union of Students (NUS) has pulled out of the Free Education Demonstration on Wednesday 19th December in London, angering Bath students who wished to participate in the demonstration. The demonstration had the official support of the NUS nationally at a meeting in September, however the NUS leadership allegedly attempted to distance themselves from it and has now pulled support entirely on health and safety grounds. Meanwhile, both the University of Bath and Bath Spa University Students' Unions have  taken the decision not to provide transport to the demonstration. A dissenting University of Bath student commented that the Students' Union President has been "useless". Reiss McGuinness, a recent Bath Spa University graduate said that the universities had behaved "as expected".

Bruce Galliver, the Bath Spa University Students' Union President is supportive of the demonstration, however, despite a majority voting in favour of the decision in a student council vote, he was ultimately unable to get the university to organise transport. Following the withdrawal of support from the national NUS, Bath Spa University recieved a letter from the NUS recommending against sending students to the demonstration. The decision then had to be referred to the the Board of Trustees. There are 12 trustees, 8 students and 4 externals on the board and of those 8 students, 5 voted against organising a coach. Bruce 's letters to the Trustees can be found here.

Mr Galliver commented "I'd like to make it clear to students that I followed a democratic procedure here in line with the Unions constitution, but my position was and still is that the Union should organise transport and support at this demonstration for free education. Despite the fact that the Union will no longer do this, I still intend to offer any assistance and support I can to students who still wish to attend the event. I feel it's a very justifiable and important cause and I hope this decision will not affect the morale of those who intend on going. I apologise for the delay in this statement coming out and I hope everyone is able to make arrangements in time for the 19th."

The University of Bath has agreed to subsidise coach tickets for the demonstration, however these have now sold out. The University of Bristol is organising coaches for the demonstration, and some students from Bath will be going with their coaches. Other students will need to find their own way there.

A Student's Perspective

Recent Bath Spa Univerisity graduate and local activist Simon Jilley has sent the following words for inclusion in this article:

This is going to be my first student rally since the 2012 demo, which nobody really quite understood and a lot of people were very upset at the NUS at for changing the route last-minute. I am now not a fee-paying, exam-writing, decision-making student, but that doesn't mean that I've in any way fallen out of the loop. If anything, I feel much more connected now than I ever did before to the student struggle.

Four years ago, I was on Embankment listening to speakers as protesters were being forced into a riot in Parliament Square, just a few hundred metres away. I was extremely confused by the situation I was in. The speakers spoke nothing of the situation in Parliament Square, nor seemed to care at all. They just spoke from their cue cards, about how certain unions are making certain points of progress, and this means certain things and of course the whole situation will be solved by blaming the coalition government. It's all because of the coalition government, after all, that our government is corrupt and are a group of bastards on a pedestal. I was quite sickened by the whole affair – I saw mounted police charging at those trapped in Parliament Square, but from 200m in front of me. I couldn't do anything about it, and it was like watching a dystopia film.

At the demo two years ago, called '#demo2012', I was a part of a fringe meditation demonstration in front of Big Ben which, although it had no noticeable message to offer to the general public, had a prominent impact on each and every one of us that were involved. It was the first time that most of the group had ever interacted with the police on that level – and it wasn't pre-planned in any way. It was a spontaneous act, that caught everyone (including myself, in some ways) by surprise. We left the march that we didn't understand and the movement that we had become very disillusioned by, and created our own movement in those hours sat in front of Big Ben.

Two years on, and there still exists a lot of that movement that was created in Autumn 2012. We are still demonstrating spontaneously, and contributing to things that really mean something to us. I was similarly at a march that I was fairly disillusioned by a month back – at the TUC Britain Needs A Payrise demo. We supported the Occupy Democracy actions, and became much more a part of that than we had been a part of the TUC march. We had a spontaneous 'Freedom March' a few months back, in Bath. It's all happening, this movement is strong.

Now we are preparing for the Free Education demonstration. 19th November is going to be a massive day for students, and all peoples, in these lands. We are going to demonstrate for Free Education – the first time in my memory that any such people have demonstrated for such a thing in Britain. The implications of Free Education are massive – with free education, we regain freedoms that were taken from us in generations passed, and move more stably towards a freer, more creative, and more joyful world. We've lost our footing in the last few generations – perhaps a lot of people fell asleep, and let the politicians gain many ones over us. But the Free Education fight is a huge part of the movement towards this better world.

I am shocked that the NUS pulled out of the march. I knew that some part of the NUS lacked a lot of backbone after experiencing things two years ago, at #demo2012. But I didn't expect that they would do something so foolish, aggressive, and cowardly as this. By pulling out of the demonstration in the way that they have, they are effectively marginalising the 'hard-line' protesters that go on the march anyway. We are all going to be marginalised, and will be noted for having been on the Free Education demo. The NUS pulling out has led to many Students' Unions (most of the Unions in Britain are affiliated with the NUS) shamefully dropping their pledge to Student Democracy.

In Bath, both Unions have dropped out of the march for pretty much the same reasons. At Bath Uni SU, an online poll was conducted that decided that Bath Uni SU should provide transport for, and support, the march. Despite 86% of respondents supporting the march, on 6th November, the same day that the NUS released their statement of pulling out of the march (less than two weeks before the march – an unrealistic time for a student group to gather and plan a coach...), the SU pulled out, citing the NUS reasons of problems with risk assessments. At Bath Spa SU, a motion was brought forward to the Student Council on 28th October for the SU to support and provide education for the demonstration. The Student Council voted widely in favour of the motion. There was confusion after November 6th, and little was known about what was going to be happening. Fliers had already been distributed around campus, and in the Students' Union, and continued to be so after the NUS announcement. But on 12th November, Union President Bruce Galliver released a statement that, despite his personal strong support of the march and of the SU providing transport, the Board of Trustees had voted 8-to-3 against the SU supporting the march and providing transport. This is despite Bruce offering that the SU provide a 'Demo survival pack', 'two delegated SU stewards', and 'our own risk assessment'. Despite his clear encouragement, in a letter sent out to all of the Trustees on 11th November, for reasonable measures to be taken in order to still provide support and transport (see here), it was not stated that the Trustees had engaged in any kind of dialogue about the matter.

What we are seeing across the country is a clear disregard of Student Union democracy, as Unions across the country are pulling out of a march that their members voted in support of. We are not receiving adequate reasons for why Unions are pulling out ('on health & safety grounds' does not count as 'adequate', for there is always the opportunity to take extra measures to ensure that all things are covered for), and instead are understanding that Student Democracy is becoming weaker, and listened to less.

And this is why we really need this demonstration. This demonstration is for Free Education. The meaning of 'freedom' is strong, extremely strong, for me in relation to this demonstration. It is iconic, what is happening across Britain with the 'freedom' to act democratically being revoked in the weeks leading up to the demonstration. We will be marching for freedom: not only for an education system that is 100% inclusive of all peoples irrespective of economic background and that doesn't purge students into financial instability afterwards, but also for an education system that allows for a freedom of democracy to exist.

Notably, you will notice that November 19th is not a one-day event. Students are being encouraged to Walkout/Occupy/Resist on December 3rd, on the National Day of Action for Free Education. Students should 'use the time between the 19th November and 3rd December to build on your campus. Run rallies, meetings, stalls, protests, and link up between universities, colleges and schools in your local area'. There is longevity to it all. There is something big happening out of it – it is now time for us to take back what they stole, to bring our future, and the future of generations that will follow us, into our actions. We need to plot out what should be happening on the map, to make it all a reality.

Maybe it is more beneficial to the movement that the Student Unions have backed out. As financially-vested bodies, they have people that they must always respond to, and they are often made liable for their actions. But we can ask, still, that members of the Student Unions join us in our independent movement, making a Free Education a reality before our very eyes. For, in our independent rise, we will make a reality of what we collectively see must happen, without having to be suppressed in our ideals by any individual or governing body.

After November 6th and November 12th respectively (when the Unions pulled out), groups of us have organised to provide forms of transport for people wanting to join the march. Bath Spa students will mostly either be making their own way there from Bath, or will be joining the Bristol Uni coach. Bath Uni students have been invited onto a National Express coach, as lots of tickets were bought at one time. There is no funding available currently in the activist movements in Bath – and it is a suggestion of mine that we may sort out some kind of a collective fund to support when occasions like this happen (in 2010, the UCU provided transport from Bath to London for the November demonstration – they are not doing so this year, and none of us appear to have a spare £500 to pay for a coach). Let's get ourselves stronger, and support each other in all of the struggles that go on. And, no matter who you are or where you stand, come to London if you can for the Free Education demonstration, or give support to us working for a Free Education Future!

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