Students at Goldsmiths University have occupied in support of striking staff
One Hundred students at Goldsmiths voted last night to occupy the main administrative building in solidarity with staff striking today for a fair pay rise. The debate saw one student who had opposed the first strike come round to supporting the action after a systematic campaign across the campus to explain the need for the strikes. This morning, the campus was effectively shut down with barely any lectures taking place and lively pickets handing out union leaflets explaining that the pay campaign is linked to opposition to the marketisation of university life. Pickets then joined a march in central London going from the university employers’ association to a rally in Bloomsbury.
Des Freedman
Des Freedman is Professor of Media and Communications in the Department of Media and Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. He is the co-author of 'The Media Manifesto' (Polity 2020, author of 'The Contradictions of Media Power' (Bloomsbury 2014), co-editor of 'The Assault on Universities: A Manifesto for Resistance' (Pluto 2011), and former Chair of the Media Reform Coalition.