France: The UNEF condemns police violence at Paris-Nanterre University

CW Police violence

By Angela Lopez
Originally published by Union Nationale des Étudiants de France
(National Union of Students of France - UNEF)
10 April 2018

For several weeks, students and staff at Paris Nanterre University have been mobilized against the so-called Student Orientation and Success Act. In this direction, yesterday morning, the students made the choice as a mode of action to block a number of campus buildings. Following this came a general meeting where the students were able to debate the direction to be given to the movement and the next steps to be taken in protests against the reform of the Students Plan. In response to this, an administrative closure of all the buildings was ordered by the president of the university and denied to allow students to access their course buildings.

The president of Paris-Nanterre University decides to use force against students.

Faced with the mobilization of the students, the president of the University Paris Nanterre made the decision to respond with force and to send onto the campus companies of the CRS (Compagnies Républicaines de Sécurité - Republican Security Companies). Once on site, the only purpose of the CRS was to dislodge by force the students who were in the social and human sciences buildings. These are students who have been gassed, hit and worse. Many of them have been wounded, one of them seriously. Added to this is the arrest of seven students, even though they did not put up any resistance, among whom is Victor Mendez, a UNEF activist.

It is unacceptable that the response of a university to students' claims to be able to mobilize is a response of force, the police have no place in our universities!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Angela Lopez is president of l'UNEF in France's Department 31

Read more...

WA teachers rally for public education

Lisbeth Latham

PERTH — On September 24, 500 angry public school teachers rallied outside the Western Australian parliament to demand that Premier Geoff Gallop's Labor government agree to the log of claims their union has put to the government.

Singing "Wake up Geoff", the teachers demanded that Gallop, treasurer Eric Ripper and education minister Alan Carpenter face the rally. However, no representative of the government was willing to either address the rally or listen to the demands of the teachers.

Australian Education Union state secretary Dave Kelly reported to the rally on a meeting between the AEU's negotiating committee and the state education department over the government's new offer for a certified agreement with the teachers. Kelly said that while the new offer was a "step in the right direction", there were three outstanding matters that meant the union's executive could not endorse it.

These were around the offered wage increase, primary school teachers' duties other than teaching (DOTT) and class sizes. The government is now offering a wage increase to teachers of 9.27% over 30 months. This would amount to a 1% increase in real wages.

The government proposes the primary school teachers' DOTT be increased by 20 minutes to 200 minutes per week, which falls well short of the claim of 320 minutes DOTT to achieve equity with secondary teachers. The government does not address the need to reduce class sizes.

Kelly told the rally that the AEU branch executive would discuss an escalation of "industrial action to bring a firm agreement home for educators across the state".

WA AEU vice-president Mike Keely announced that the government had dropped its push for a flat pay rate for casual teachers. Such a flat rate would have represented a pay cut for more experienced teachers.

From Green Left Weekly #556.

Read more...