Sheffield University Occupation Rally Against Cuts

Yesterday, the management of the University of Sheffield were forced into a public back down over the possession order they had served to the occupiers of the Richard Roberts building. The Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Paul White, attended a public rally in the Richard Roberts auditorium organised by the occupation in opposition to the cuts. He revealed to a room full of over 170 trade union activists, students and workers that the university would not be seeking to evict the occupiers using their court injunction for at least 48 hours. The decision was greeted with much relief, as management had been threatening the occupation with being forcefully removed by police and bailiffs since Thursday. This may not be much of a concession; the occupiers demands are yet to be met, however the move is considered to be one in the right direction.

The meeting hosted people from various trade unions, political parties as well as the unemployed and disabled. Together they showed their support and many described the occupiers as an inspiration to the wider movement against cuts to the Welfare State and the Public Sector. Amongst the speakers the rally held Martin Mayer, National Executive of Unite the Union, Liz Lawrence, Regional Secretary of the UCU, Colin Hampton, Derbyshire Unemployed Workers Centre and Bill Greenshields, Ex-President of the NUT, who spoke about their concerns and clarified how the cuts would affect them. The Assembly was then opened to the floor where teachers, occupiers and political party members expressed their views.

To end gracefully, Roy Bailey, the socialist folk singer, performed a gig where he also shared his life experiences during his political activity in the 1960s. He was received warmly and everyone in the packed room joined in the sing-along and cheered.

The Sheffield Occupation has received international support from Noam Chomsky, an American linguist, philosopher and political activist, the National University of Quilmes, Argentina, and ANEL, the Brazilian National Assembly of Students.

After another successful day at the occupation, the students are currently organising teach-ins and concerts to be hosted at the Richard Roberts Building in the next couple of days. More importantly they are planning for the protests and action days that are leading up to the vote at Parliament on Thursday the 9th.