NUS Referendum

[Hammer]

That's right, following the farce last year when it was originally proposed, the SRC has finally set a date for the NUS referendum: 15th November 2006.

[endless psych]

Is that the death knell of Northen Services and CHESS I hear...?

Don't on any account let Dundee help with the "NO" campaign...

[Hammer]

Wait and see. Even if the SRC does go over to the Dark Side NUS, it's unlikely that the Unions will. That said, there will be a lot of pressure on them to join NUSSEL (the NUS buying consortium).

I know that I don't want the NUS in, but I think that it's too early to call yet. It all depends on how the NUS, the Unions and the Official campaigns (ie SRC funded Yes and No groups with limited budgets) go about their campaigning on campus. I believe that it's entirely probably that the whole thing will pass many students by, much in the same way the umpteen elections a year do.

[endless psych]

There was a QM delegation at the Edinburgh vote - I imagine there will be a similar invasion when Glasgows time comes...

No doubt the union boards will spend more time arguing about bins in Rev then they will about it though

[Hammer]

The hearsay last time was that the NUS had money set aside to rent a flat and put up a heap of supporters in Glasgow just to blanket Gilmorehill with their PR materials. I don't know how much truth there is to it, but I expect that it won't be long before folks in NUS t-shirts start to spring up on campus.

[endless psych]

The real problem is that the NUS may already have offered NUS advocates on the SRC positions after the vote... At least those were the rumours flying around Edinburgh...

Sort of like a low budget student version of cash for peerages...

[Hammer]

That was the rumor about Dan Guy last year and one of the reasons that he ended up resigning, however, the Exec this are a lot more sane then Dan Guy. I doubt that any of them wants the NUS in, let alone a position on it.

[endless psych]

Its generally thought to be one of the means that the NUS has of expanding... Not that its done overtly just that the idea is sort of there... Implied if you will...

[Hammer]

Originally Posted by SRC

Dear Student

Please be advised that the Students' Representative Council (SRC) will
be holding a referendum on affiliation to the National Union of Students
on 15th November.

Part of the process for this referendum is to offer all students the
opportunity to participate in an official "Yes" campaign group and
official "No" campaign group.

The first meeting of each group will be held in the Williams Room in the
John McIntyre Building on Wednesday, 25 October. The meeting of the
"Yes" group will be held at 5 p.m. and the "No" group at 6 p.m.

To join an official group you must first register at the SRC Reception
by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, 24 October. Please bring your
matriculation/registration card with you.

For full details of the motion calling for the referendum and outlining
the rules of engagement please go to www.glasgowstudent.net

Regards


Noreen Jennings
PA to the Permanent Secretary
Students' Representative Council
University of Glasgow

.

[cookie]

silly question but what does joining either campaign group entail? standing about on the hill up to the library handing out the relevant flyers?

[Hammer]

As much or as little as you want far as I know. There will be the normal hustings and possibly a few debates on it in the near future. Running the groups will be voluntary as well, and probably not done by the SRC or the Unions.

[cookie]

I'd actually be tempted to get involved in this, you wouldn't happen to know where I can find more info about the pros and cons of joining the NUS would you Hammer?

If you google for it you'll find shedloads of stuff Lindsay.

I'll warn you guys right now, be well prepared because NUS Scotland will have every single member of every single committee briefed and expected on campus with as many supporters as they can muster and I suspect NUS UK will stick their nebs in as well.

[Hammer]

We're well aware of that There won't just be the official campaigns. There is a hell of a lot of No to NUS groups that can muster a flying picket, should the need arise.

As I said above, the NUS are said to have a lot of money set aside for Glasgow, since the UoG name carries a lot of weight. It's not going to be a fair fight, but there is a lot of strong feeling against the NUS in Glasgow and a lot of groups that would come off worse under the NUS and NUSSEL.

Originally Posted by cookie

I'd actually be tempted to get involved in this, you wouldn't happen to know where I can find more info about the pros and cons of joining the NUS would you Hammer?

Certainly. For the pros, have a look at the NUS website. They love to toot they're own horn about how great they are.

For a negitive look, the Students Against NUS at Edinburgh (SANE) website has some good info, as does this article from the St. Andrews Uni magazine.

Personally, my arguments against joining the NUS are as follows, I dislike the centralisation, party politisism and opportunism of the NUS. If you wish to talk to a member of the SRC, then they'll be in they're office. As like as not an elected NUS rep on a sabbatical will be hidden away in a central office somewhere. The upper-eclechons of the NUS are also seen as a fast track way to get put forward for a Labour seat.

There is a threat to the Unions from the NUS, namely they may be forced to switch to the NUSSEL buying consortium (as opposed to the non-NUS Northern Services group). The long and the short of this would mean that what we could stock would be controlled by an England based group and that the QM and the GU would be very small voices in it (as opposed to Northern Services, which we have a good influence in). The QM and the GU would most likely end up stocking Carling and Carlsberg as the standard and premium lagers, with several other beverages being replaced with alternatives. It is also likely that bar prices would increase.

It should be noted that the Unions would remain completely under the control of their independent, elected Boards of Management unless they held referendums which voted to either become part of a Student Association or join the NUS as an individual body.

I have a few more points which I'll bring up later once I've done some fact finding, but there's also possible risks to the survival of certain clubs and societies on campus (notably the International Students, the LGBT and Women's Society), which may be grouped into new NUS groups if the referendum passes.

[djtoast]

Since I graduated a few years ago it's really none of my business I suppose but I'm still deeply worried by—well, anything to do with the NUS really.

So I intend to mutter totally fabricated and unsubstantiated things like "it would mean that we could no longer have Irn Bru on campus—and I don't just mean sell it, you wouldn't even be allowed to bring your own and drink it anywhere within 1.1 miles of the tower" and "The SRC would be required to have at least 70% of its elected members drawn from a pool of English, Welsh and Northern Irelandish candidates, which is tantamount to racism" in front of anyone who'll listen.