When the National Party and ACT gutted the University Student Associations by outlawing them and making them all spinelessly ‘voluntary’, they did 3 things.
1 – They killed off one of the most important protesting critical voices for society.
2 – They killed off one of the incubators for the political Left
3 – They ended a real student voice within Universities that protected student rights.
The spineless jellyfish that Student Associations have been shoe horned into fit are no threat to Universities and they have no impact on politics any longer. By robbing them of their vitality and strength by making them voluntary, National & ACT cleverly strangled off an incredibly powerful force for good.
It’s difficult to look at the horror of the Otago University’s ‘kill zone’ and not see this as an outcome of spineless student associations. If there were real power in the student association there, they would have pulled the Otago Uni up on their appalling safety danger zone of slippery tiles that have seen 70 people injured…
70 slipped on titles before woman broke back
The university yesterday pleaded guilty to a private health and safety prosecution brought by Katherine Casey and will pay her $60,000 in reparations.
Ms Casey broke her pelvis and back when she slipped on the tiles while visiting the university’s Commerce Building in June 2013.
…if and when the Left ever regain Power in NZ, one of the first things they need to pass is making student unions universal again. National and ACT don’t care about representation unless it’s the representation of the rich and powerful, empowering students is a role for the Left.
Voluntary student association membership was first and foremost, an attempt to wrest control of them from the left. The young radicals who continually challenged the universities in so many ways gradually were pushed out and replaced by the smug, rich kids of doctors, accountants and lawyers who think they are in financial crisis when they are down to their last million.
That is also why the National government continually wants to strip power away from the teacher unions.
It is not about giving people more freedoms as David Seymour likes to spout out, it is giving your political cronies a hand up.
Curious as to what the incubators for the political right are – and in particular the ones which people are compelled to join against their will?
“Curious as to what the incubators for the political right are.”
Judging from recent news reports, I’d say the school rugby team.
Well…..lets start with the Business Roundtable or whatever they like to call themselves these days…
You know the ones…the characters who backed Roger Douglas and the neo liberal hijacking of New Zealand starting back in the 1980’s and have been actively influencing , lobbying successive govts ever since – particularly National and Act.
The same ones who actively endorsed the dismantling of social democracy for their pecuniary advantage and the sell off of our SOE’s. And the dismantling of collective bargaining to enable the paying of peasant wages.
The same ones who were quite happy for 29 men to die because of the lack of UNION MINES SAFETY INSPECTORS. And are more than satisfied that Health and Safety laws under Key have been watered down even further.
WORM FARMS ANYONE?
Oh yes…Im sure if you were honest that there is MORE than enough motivation and reason to be COMPELLED to be a part of that number , old son…
Compulsion enough for them to ensure that their lackeys like Key pass legislation to nullify and destroy any dissent or opposition that might imperil their hold on power and wealth …
Oh yes…there’s plenty more peasants down Queen St acting like Mexicans with cell phones in their opinion.
Oh yes indeedy…
yes, how dare people have the choice whether or not to join a student association! Is the fact that so few people join students associations reflect that most students see them as irrelevant ?
Or apathy.
Isn’t it amazing how righties feel sooooo threatened by collective action? LOL!
I suspect the fees do it rather better than being irrelevant/relevant.
And yes Priss, so very easily threatened…
Really ‘the kill zone’ the whole fucking Commerce building leaks and has done from the day it was built and anyway apart from the pain and suffering it has caused which is regrettable it couldn’t happen to a more deserving faculty!
Actually I agree with you Meconism. The Commerce side of Universities was always where the neo-liberals were nurtured. Us Arts students hated them. We still marched though…
The students’ association did protest to the university in 2001 about the unsafe flooring. It’s probably less about the weakening of the association and more about the mindset of the university, which chose to ignore this, and many other submissions.
http://www.odt.co.nz/campus/university-otago/354412/university-deeply-regrets-building-accidents
When I was at university, a long time ago now, membership of the association was compulsory, as was union membership. Even apathetic and uninterested students benefited from their membership. Those who argue for voluntary membership disregard the fact that for many people of university age, their world outlook is just not geared to recognising the benefits of belonging to the association. That does not mean that they shouldn’t be in it.
You’re right there Steve. University admin is no longer centred on learning but on profit. We no longer have any true universities.
Every Commerce faculty needs a k-z.
If student unions are such a good idea why do they have to be compulsory? Surely a student is best able to decide wether or not to belong to a union?
Unless of course you don’t agree with freedom of association and individual choice. Compulsory implies coercion.
As I pointed out at the select committee – there were ALWAYS options for students who didn’t want their money funding lefty student’s associations. Any Student who didn’t want their money to go to the association could always apply to have their fee directed away from the association to a recognised charitable trust. That way freedom of association was assured.
That’s not freedom of association at all, why should someone have to go to the effort of disaccotiation? Also it’s not much if a choice wether your money goes to a union or charity you are still being coerced to give your money up.
In return by benefits. Sometimes the price of enjoying certain activities and benefits is having to belong. Like being a New Zealand citizen and paying taxes.
That way freedom of association was assured.
…but not freedom from a substantial fee at a time in your life when, arguably, you can least afford it.
In cases as you have described, was the student still a member of the association? If so, then what you have described is hardly freedom of association. If not, then we have a situation where a person can elect not to join, provided they paid money to some other charitable organisation. Again, hardly freedom of association.
If the first case applied, ie the student was still a member, but didn’t financially support the student union with a levy, can you tell me whether the student union received any funding from other sources which was based on the number of members.
They have to be compulsory to deal with fuckwit neo-liberals llike yourself!
I hated and loathed being robbed of my fees. The NZ/Aotearoa I was in at that time WAS one of compulsory unionism and National Awards.
It was fucking brilliant because any halfwit could see the advantage of unity or community. Individuals could not be picked off by either capitalist or political sharp-shooters. It was called strength in numbers and in spite of (or more likely because of) the foaming at the mouth neo-liberal put downs of “socialism” I still believe in it.
Remember that stupid grocer Margaret Thatcher?
She once said… “…who is society? There is no such thing!”
And this is our fundamental problem.
The neo-libs see only their own individual self and no need for corroboration from anyone else.
Us “socialists” believe that we make a better world when we unify and work as a society for our mutual benefit.
I am more than happy to be a penguin living in a vast penguin city where we keep each other warm by our close proximity.
Neo-liberalism came out of America, a country full of the rubbish of Europe, who believed in the rights of the individual over any would be society. Note what it has led to in terms of its citizen’s health and wealth and sense of community, and what they did to the poor bastards they found living there.
I would not wipe my arse with neo-liberalism. My socialist shit is too good for it…
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