Conference: defeating cuts in education

By Joseph Kay, 24 May, 2010
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THIS Saturday (29th May), 12pm – 6pm in Brighton. Join the Facebook event. Venue to be confirmed very soon here and on Facebook.

As a new government is getting ready to attack the living conditions of ordinary people, students and education workers have already had experiences with cuts – and how we can stop them. We will try to draw the lessons from the strikes, occupations and other forms of direct action taken in HE and FE over the last months. How can we build effective alliances between students and workers? How can we act in solidarity across education establishments? How can we organise from below to defend education?

National conference with talks and workshops, open to students and education workers.

Organised by Anarchist Society and Brighton Solidarity Federation for the Autonomous Students Network and the Education Workers Network.

http://www.stopthecuts.net/conference

For more information, contact education.cuts.conference [at] googlemail.com

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Introductory session:
- Reports from local anti-cuts campaigns
- EWN and ASN speakers
- General discussion

Lunch

Workshops (A) practical focus:
- Propaganda/graphics and layout/campaign websites
- How to occupy : practical barricading

Workshops (B) focus on organising:
- Organising with trade unions – from student perspective
- Organising with trade unions – from worker perspective
- Keeping campaigns democratic / meetings workshop

Workshops (C) strategy & analysis:
- What is direct action?
- Communication and massification : from activist group to movement
- Organising as an industrial network

Plenary discussion

    The Solidarity Federation is an anarcho-syndicalist union, a means for people seeking to improve our lives to organise in our workplaces and communities. SolFed brings together people in all occupations regardless of industry, sector or trade – whether we’re employed or not.

    SolFed seeks the abolition of capitalism and the institutions of power that are associated with it, such as the state. Our goal is to create a society centred on needs rather than profit, based upon the principle ‘from each according to ability, to each according to need’.

    We believe in the principle of direct action – that means doing something for ourselves and not expecting leaders or representatives to act on our behalf.

    SolFed members organise ourselves in a federation of local unions; in education we are in the Solidarity Federation Education Union (SFEU) and our members in hospitality are in the Solidarity Federation Hospitality Workers Union (SFHWU)

    Join us!