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Student group claim: Should students be seeking compensation for strikes? Is there any point trying to claim compensation for missed teaching hours? Tommy Allday English, Second Year
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s the rift between university staff and their employers grows, it’s hard being a student caught in the crossfire. The strikes distort our university experience, stripping us of key aspects of our education and routine, and do so with no real indication of compensation. The UCU regard the strikes as ‘always a last resort’, and a means to ‘defend [our] education’, but another might question how losing out on an expensive education is something you should simply let happen. This isn’t to say the staff aren’t also victims. They don’t want us to suffer and the fact that they have to use the students’ plight as leverage to prompt action from the university is telling. The reasons for striking are complicated, but to be put simply there are two main reasons for these walkouts: pay and pensions. Our teaching staff are contesting their salaries and the existence of zero-hour contracts in regards to pay; and in regards to pension. They are contesting their pension fund being last valued during the economic crisis post-COVID - hence, devaluing it. Just as we feel unjustly treated for missing out on our contact hours, our staff justifiably feel as if their employers have let them down. This all seems to suggest that we should look to the employers, our university’s administrators, for insight on compensation. With the staff taking on the university about finances, a student might take it on about academic compensation. Missing out on contact hours, yet still being tested on the full course’s content, seems unjust. With this comes the looming concern that this injustice might damage your final grade, and this final grade will affect your future job prospects, and this will then set your whole life on a downwards spiral - but this isn’t really the case. The strikes don’t send the university into a complete lockdown by
any means: libraries remain open, as do the subject buildings and the Student's Union. The opportunity to continue your studies is available to all students, as well as the chance to stay on top of your work. This might seem cynical, but it's not as if we have a choice. Academic compensation is a tricky subject due to the subjectivity of a student’s experience in these strikes. Especially in subjects with a large cohort, where one seminar group might miss a two-hour discussion on a learning cycle, that same week another group will have that exact discussion. Students cannot simply demand compensation because of the university making departments cut content, as within a subject, two different students might have covered completely different content. ‘Well if I can’t get that, then I want my money back’ - this is the next logical step in this conversation, but again, it's not that simple. Firstly, with the university being seemingly reluctant to give away more money than they need to, it immediately looks like wishful thinking that they’ll consider compensating us financially. Again, cynical, but due to the subjectivity of each student’s strike experience, a definitive monetary resolve would be fragmented and practically incalculable. Universities are, strictly-speaking, businesses. Given they stay open and running, even despite these strikes, this alone might provide grounds for them to not directly compensate their students. This is not to say you are fighting a lost cause in taking on UCU Strikes: James Dowden
the university for compensation, but it seems like financial compensation will never make everybody happy. But your university experience isn’t specifically limited to how much money you put in, and how much education you get. Perhaps compensation doesn't have to be limited to financial or academic means? Take, for example, the money a university gains from not paying their striking workers: regardless of whether the staff eventually gain a satisfactory resolution, it seems logical that this money be used on the student. If this money goes nowhere, then the universities are profiting from the strike. It seems appropriate that the students demand action. Again, it is impossible that this money should be fairly distributed, depending on strike impact. However, if it is pumped into the university to make it an overall better place, this seems a suitable compromise. This would not have to be limited to this specific money, either, as the university should probably go further and provide further means to improve itself and this is where students can act. As staff ask us to stand in solidarity with them in the strikes, students can go further and try and work towards this dispute ending in the university being a better place. From actual enhancements to the university facilities, to benefits the university could provide its students, what should be ultimately pursued is compensation that improves our student experience and stops the university profiting from these strikes.
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Should Marvin Rees Stand as an MP? What is next for the soon-to-be former mayor of Bristol? Edward Cleaver Politics and IR, Second Year
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lmost a year after Bristol opted to abandon the mayoral system, the political future of Marvin Rees remains unclear. The electorate voted for the return of the committee system, vesting decision-making powers among councillors, rather than the mayor’s office, forcing Rees to look at alternative options. Suggestions have included a move from local to national politics, involving a run to become a Westminster MP, which Rees himself has previously touted. Various factors will inform this decision, starting with the availability of opportunities to become a Labour candidate. Labour holds all four constituencies in Bristol, including Bristol West – represented by Thangam Debbonaire, the Shadow Leader of the House of Commons. The majorities within all these areas are healthy, with electoral trends likely to enhance Labour’s vote share. It is unlikely Rees would risk angering the Labour leadership by challenging a Shadow Cabinet member. Bristol North West MP Darren Jones is also developing a national profile, hindering a Rees campaign in this constituency. However, with the potential of boundary changes to the political map and the probable creation of a fifth constituency (Bristol North East), there is likely to be a substantial impact on Bristol politics. Despite alterations to their own constituency boundaries, both the MPs for the Bristol East and Bristol South communities are set to stand in those same areas, creating a vacancy in the new constituency that would likely be the focus of Rees’ efforts. Local party members could be resistant, arguing that Rees is simply using the area as a platform to further his political ambitions. Despite this, Rees’ political career so far has received widespread praise, while also representing vital progress for minority ethnic communities, becoming the first person of black African heritage to be directly elected mayor in a major European city. These achievements must not be understated, helping to combat his-
torical issues for minority representation, particulary relevant to Bristol – a city defined for generations by racial tensions. If Rees combines his unique experiences and perspectives with his visible platform, he could have a transformative effect as a local MP that is hard to overlook. Rees has a genuine understanding of Bristol – having been raised in a working-class area in Lawrence Weston and employed in various positions within the city before his political career began. The vote to abolish the position is viewed by some to be rooted in dissatisfaction with Rees, with other mayors possessing similar powers like Andy Street in the West Midlands faring better in their electoral fortunes. However, the extent to which this is true is difficult to gauge, with the referendum result also reflecting systematic disillusionment, rather than personal issues. Labour’s dominance within Bristol has been endangered by an energised Green Party movement, the largest party on the city council. As a result, concentrating power in a singular elected official has become an insufficient way of reflecting the varied views of Bristolians. Any campaign in Bristol North East Rees enters would almost certainly involve focus on his record as mayor. Attacks from opponents may utilise previous criticism seen during the referendum campaign, often pointing to his inability to build a consensus and authoritarian tendencies during his time in office. These may be hard to counter, especially considering they are echoed by ex-Labour councillors like Jo Sergeant, who defected to the Greens after detailing similar concerns. In response, Rees is likely to argue his national profile will provide important influence and publicity for his constituents. Convincing those same constituents that this move is not merely an attempt to move up the political ladder and serve future leadership ambitions is vital. The favourable conditions for a Westminster run are there for Rees, with a new constituency providing a unique opening for the mayor. His prominence will likely encourage the Labour leadership to back his run. However, facing the electorate will provide an intriguing test – with his ability to combat scrutiny on his record as mayor and overcome careerist arguments crucial.