The discussion “Defend Jobs and Services in Education - How should Education Workers respond?” at this year's London Anarchist Bookfair was organised and hosted by the Education Workers’ Network (EWN). The discussion centred around issues facing workers in the education sector, particularly in light of the recession, and cuts being made left, right and centre. The session was intended to provide an opportunity for education workers to speak out against the ongoing process of cuts and job losses in education, but also included a student activist talking about how students can support education workers in struggle. This was followed by an open debate on practical action.

Education Workers Network
A speaker from EWN opened the session by giving a brief run-down of the current attacks on the education sector. Against the backdrop of the recession, workers in all sector, including education, are facing cuts in their standards of living. Often this is taking the form of below-inflation ‘pat rises’, effectively pay cuts in real terms. Recent struggles, such as the occupation of London Metropolitan University (London Met) and the strike of the Tower Hamlets College workers, highlight the need for vigilance from education workers, and underline the need to fight back against the aggressive attacks on workers’ pay and conditions by bosses in the sector.

Earlier this year it was forecast that up to 100 higher eduction (HE) institutions in the UK would be expecting to make job cuts in the coming year – that’s two-thirds of HE workplaces, a haunting statistic. Meanwhile, £65million has been cut from the HE budget, while at the same time, government wants 10,000 more students to take university places. This means more students, with less staff to teach them, and less money to pay for it – a grim state of affairs.

Strike Action to Defend Jobs & Pay

As for most public sector orkers, there aretough times ahead for niversity staff. The governmentshould have invested in public services to create jobs and boost demand. Instead it handed over billions of pounds to bankers who used the money to increase their own profits and pay. As a result we now face a prolonged period of savage public sector cuts as the government tries to claw back the money handed over to bankers.

Victory at Tower Hamlets

“Five HE Unions, One Demand”?

 PGCE cuts

London Met Occupied

Education Without Borders

Redundancies in HE

Consultation? What Consultation?

Get your copy by writing to us, or from our stall at the anarchist bookfair on 24. October, or download it as a pdf file here.

The Education Workers Network is organising a meeting at the Anarchist bookfair in London on 24. October. We will also have a stall, so come and say hello.

Strike action to defend jobs and pay - Create a fighting alternative to the reformist unions

All education workers must unite to prevent the destruction of jobs and the slashing of pay. The government have announced £20bn of cuts across the education sector; university management will cut spending by up to 16% in the next few years. These actions will decimate education and cost thousands of jobs.

The cuts are due to the billions handed over to bail out the banks. We will not pay for the capitalist crisis.

Stopping this will take co-ordinated strikes of all workers across the old union divides. Every cut that management try to impose must be resisted as part of a wider struggle. We must build a broad-based workplace campaign for public sector strikes and a revolutionary alternative to the reformist education unions.

4pm – 4.50pm, Room LG1 (in basement of Physics Building)