Industrial Union 620
students found to be among the most vulnerable
Although Bill Rammell, Higher Education Secretary, has claimed that students are taking on more work to gain valuable work experience, it is not hard to join the dots to find out the real reason. Ten years ago, tuition fees did not exist. Labour then introduced fees, punishing students from lower income backgrounds, followed by top-up fees, punishing students from lower income backgrounds and from middle income backgrounds, and now they are threatening to give universities limitless power to charge whatever they want, thus threatening to punish all but the most wealthy. Of course, they have softened the blows along the way by introducing hardship grants and scholarship schemes, allowing a token number of lucky paupers into the prestigious ranks of the rich and powerful.
Now that many students are in some sort of employment during their studies, it is important not only to look at the blunders of the largely impotent student 'movement' that tried politiely to halt this process, but also to the conditions under which students are now forced to work. The average wage for working students is �5.73 per hour. 40% of full-time students in employment say their paid work has serious negative effects on their study, and this figure for part-time students is well over half. Over all, around two-thirds of working students said their paid work noticeably reduced their study time.
This massive expansion of student employment and the low pay, poor working conditions and lack of respect can only be dealt with by mass direct action on and off the job. Only by using the power that work gives us can we begin to take back what it steals from us. And by organising alongside teachers and support staff, all can and will benefit, as echoed by the famous wobbly phrase: An Injury to One is an Injury to All!
If you are a student worker and interested in organising in your workplace, the IWW can help:
>> click here for a sample sheet of calling cards, ideal for shoving in little places the boss won't notice!
>> click here to get in touch with us so we can help your campaign
Many thanks to Libcom.org for alerting us to the NUS/TUC report.