UWE Socialist Students have been kicking the new term off with meetings on issues we believe are of crucial importance to students.

So what does go on at these meetings, how can you get involved?

At our first meeting, held at Frenchay on 7th, October we discussed the impact of the economic crisis on students and young workers. Our guest speaker was Matt Gordon from the Youth Fight for Jobs Campaign.

Matt explained how YFFJ is organising a fight back against the growing unemployment amongst young people. He argued that mainstream political parties and big business are off-loading the crisis in the economic system on to young people.

Unemployment amongst 16-25 year olds in the UK stands at nearly 1 million. A generation of young people have been promised that the ‘free’ market system will provide us with a secure future and prosperity.

But we are finding that the reality is totally different: those of us who have jobs face casual employment for low pay in dead end jobs.

Graduates are increasingly facing a choice between taking unpaid ‘internships’ in the hope that this will lead to paid employment in the future, and working anti-social shifts in call centres, or flipping burgers for Macdonalds.

Matt’s arguments for a fight for Free Education, were echoed by our second speaker, Will Schafer Peek, a Socialist Students member from Bath University.

Will explained how students were being squeezed from two directions: rising fees and debt on the one hand and cuts in courses and contact hours on the other.

Will explained that the realistic fight against cuts  fees and for free education required not just token demonstrations and ‘lobbying’ MPs and ministers but also building a fighting alliance of students, lecturers and other campus workers all of whom would face swingeing attacks whatever of the 3 main pro-business parties wins the election. 

We’ve also hosted Haidar Kasseem from Bristol University Socialist Students, speaking on the war in Afghanistan, and last month attended the Stop the War Coalition National Demonstration in London.

We will be holding regular stalls on Frenchay and St Matts Campus to build for future demonstrations, if you’re interested in our campaigns come and see us there, or contact us.

To join UWE Socialist Students, or to get involved with their campaigns, contact:

uwe.socialist.students@hotmail.co.uk