“Education is a battlefield”, said CWU’s head of education and training Trish Lavelle, as she opened the department’s fringe event at this year’s CWU annual conference in Bournemouth.
Themed “The battle for education”, Trish continued to set the scene for the meeting by branding the Con-Dem government’s attacks on education as: “the most cynical.” Before introducing the guest speakers Trish said: “If you can control what, how and who learns, you can control the future. This is why trade unions have been so involved in education in the past and why they should continue their efforts in the future.”
Paul Mackney, vice chair Coalition of Resistance, a relatively new movement set up in direct opposition to the Coalition government’s attacks on civil society, spoke on the need to: “prepare ourselves to defend what we have and defend against the cuts. We have to educate ourselves on fighting back. The 26th March knocked them back but didn’t knock them out. The only way we can save education at the moment is through struggle.”
Richard Ross of the London Metropolitan University put into context the historical significance of workers’ education by saying: “If we know where we come from it might help direct us in the future.” He concluded his interesting account of the beginnings of education in the labour movement with a clear message: “An attack on education is an attack on the labour movement. We need to put our heads together and draw on the imagination of the students in our protest against the government’s cuts.”
Student activist and author of ‘In the springtime the new student rebellions’, Clare Solomon outlined the dismal outlook young people face with the government’s plans to raise tuition fees and abolish the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) coupled with rising unemployment. “Faced with little hope,” she said, “students are getting stronger and stronger” and urged unions to increase their support. Hailing the success of the March 26 demonstration, she said: “For 30 June we need to look at different and creative ways to make our picket lines strong.” Clare concluded with the message that actions speak louder than words, saying: “We need to mobilise rather than issue words of support. We need to get creative and not be complacent.”
After insightful comments from the floor echoing the call for unity and solidarity in the face of austerity, Trish Lavelle closed the meeting by saying: “It is disgraceful that the generation who benefited from free education and grants are now turning on young people. Trade union branches and students need to unite to ensure action is on a greater and mutually beneficial scale.”
For more on the union’s anti-cuts campaign come along to the fringe meeting “Stop the Cuts” at 6pm, Sunday 22 May in Tregonwell Hall, BIC.
Report from CWU website, Photographs courtest of Phil Graham, Filmar
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