28 July 2005

UCU makes the case for VSU

| johnboy
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NowUC have roared back into life with a ripsnorting yarn on the future for the University of Canberra Union (UCU).

It seems the board have been very active in planning for the future in the brave new voluntary world, even if bets are hedged with language such as “the best way to combat the legislation”.

Winding up the union to re-incorporate as a “commercial organisation on campus” while cutting loose the clubs and societies is certainly one way to approach the coming challenge.

But don’t the press-ganged members of the body have any say in the restructuring of the union they have been forced to fund all these years? It would seem they will be informed when all the decisions have been made for them.

Which goes some way to making the case for giving students the choice to opt out of student unionism surely?

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Uni wasn’t too long ago for me, and I seem to recall the wonderful apathy that cloaked the student population at the ANU. It warmed our bones against the cold chill of uncomfortable decisions that relate to anything more than our own selfish desire to get laid, pissed and high with as few consequences as possible.

That’s ANU though.

Well in this case it *looks* like the union is going to some lengths to exclude the students from the process.

Always the problem of unionism, to get people to participate in resistance. After all, collectivism isn’t really useful without, well, collectives. But then again, Canberra (and tertiary education in general) tends to be predominantly middle-class. Most uni students are probably either too comfortable or working too hard to be able to appreciate the benefits of a process the results of which may be largely invisible or unimportant to the majority.

I think it sucks. Where’s the passion for change that used to inflame our campuses?

Samuel Gordon-Stewart10:33 pm 28 Jul 05

I can, but I prefer not to.

Perhaps it is just my outsiders view, but I can’t honestly see any worthwhile benefits in compulsory student unionism, in fact, I see it as dictatorial (Is that a word?)

Can anyone say “Extraordinary General Meeting”?

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