Have you ever heard of the
Mandela effect? It is a phenomenon where multiple people remember something
that didn’t happen, such as reports of people remembering Nelson Mandela dying
in prison, when of course, he didn’t.
It appears to be the case that students
at the University of Warwick are experiencing this same Mandela Effect, as many
students vividly remember a motion passing at the last All Student Meeting that mandated the Warwick Student Union to lobby for direct compensation to students
affected by strikes, rather than lobbying for the money saved due to strikes
going into a Student Hardship Fund.
However, how can these memories
be true when the SU announced on the 16th July that "Following
sustained lobbying by the Sabbatical Officer team, the SU is pleased to
announce that the £400k generated in savings to the University due to [strikes]… will be
divided between the student hardship fund… together with the creation of new
study spaces on campus”?
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| Showdown between the Warwick Student Union and Warwick Students |
As it turns out, people didn’t
imagine the motion ‘Warwick SU for Returning Tuition Fees from Strike Days'. In
fact, it became SU policy when it was passed on the 25th
May with overwhelmingly 75% of votes cast being in favour of the motion.
With
the policy stating that without change the SU will lobby for the money saved to go into a fund, and that by passing this motion, the SU will have
to lobby for ‘…direct compensation from the University of Warwick for students
directly affected by the UCU strike…’.
The SU pre-emptively tries to
justify their actions in the same announcement by saying ‘…this pot of money
(the £400,000) is separate from tuition fees.’. However, the original motion authors, disagree with this assessment, saying to the
Eye that: "It was made clear at the time that by voting for the motion, it would mandate the SU to change its policy on forfeited staff wages, from lobbying for it to go into a fund to lobbying for direct compensation to students.
Yet, this latest news, we believe, is breaking the mandate given when the motion passed, and the SU’s justification for what they have done borders on being purposely ignorant. To believe that the money saved due to the strikes wouldn't be the major source of money for refunds is beyond ridiculous, if not, sabotage.
By negotiating this pot of money away, the SU have throw away the best chance for students to receive any money back as compensation."
The Eye wonders what are the chances students will ever see a penny of compensation from strikes?
By the Warwick Eye
Sources:
https://www.warwicksu.com/news/article/warwicksu/Forfeited-strike-wages-invested-in-Student-Hardship-Fund/
https://www.warwicksu.com/pageassets/democracy/all-student-meeting/Warwick-SU-for-Returning-Tuition-Fees-from-Strike-Days.pdf
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