UCD Shutdown going ahead!

dublin | education | news report Sunday March 29, 2009 21:51 by Julian - FEE julianbrophy at gmail dot com

UCD Shutdown - How it happened, what's taking place, and its significance

Back in the beginning of March, F.E.E (Free Education for Everyone) collected enough signatures to hold a policy referendum, which, if passed, would commit the Students Union to two things.
1- To adopt a serious and direct strategy to fight against the reintroduction of fees
2- To hold a one day shutdown of the college in conjunction with the trade unions.
The referendum got passed by a substantial majority, with 83% of the students voting in favour.

The most obvious day to hold the shutdown had seemed Monday, March the 30th, as the ICTU had called for a day of national strikes. Sadly, between the dodgy offers for talks by the government, and the somewhat corrupt and indecisive leadership of the Unions, the day of national strike has been called off; despite huge majorities voting in favour of industrial action. The shutdown in UCD is going to go ahead regardless.

The Students Union decided to call the shutdown despite the Trade Unions pulling out of the national strike, which makes the shutdown a far tougher task, in terms of organizational difficulties. Despite members of UCD SIPTU Education branch being in full support of the student’s plea to the government, lectures will still be taking place, and the library staff will be working. The majority of the sabbatical officers have proven to be indifferent to the shutdown, and have been irresolute in organizing for the day, despite the clear mandate that calls for them to do so. The burden was left completely on the shoulders of F.E.E., and Dan O’Neill, the Campaigns and Communications officer.

The main task will be to stop students attending lectures, and getting them to support the idea of a full boycott of classes. Along with Dan O’Neill, F.E.E. has managed to draw up a plan of action for the entire day, so that students have good reasons not to attend their lectures. Banners and placards will be made at 9 in the morning, followed by decoration of the college in anti-fees chalk graffiti. There will then be a film screening at 11, with a talk on the history of the student movement in UCD. A lakeside rally is to take place at 1 PM, with a variety of speakers from the trade unions and the students union, and a representative of F.E.E. There is a projected march to Hugh Brady’s gaff, the leading message being “Take a 10% (if not more) pay cut!”. Then there will be a variety of recreational activities to follow, including soccer and pool tournaments, and a mass pillow fight. To conclude the day there will be a social event in the Students Bar in the evening, with some well deserved pints and music.

Hopefully the day will be successful, and students will understand just how important it is to boycott classes. It’s a pity the national strike was called off, both for ourselves in UCD, and more importantly for workers around the country. Our shutdown is a culmination of events and actions that F.E.E. have been committed to throughout the course of the year, and the fact that this momentous step has been taken is a good sign for a student movement which tends to lean towards apathy and indifference. If USI cops on and grows some balls, they will push for shutdowns all across the country, which would be far more effective than a series of pointless marches down O’Connell Street. If students, and their representative bodies don’t adopt a hard-line approach now, then the tangibility of defeating fees will become less and less concrete. Let’s hope that the shutdown is the beginning of an upward spiral that will guarantee access to the higher education sector for thousands in years to come.