On Monday, April 20, the Minister of Higher Education announced his intention to impose tuition fees of several thousand euros on non-EU students, meaning those of non-European origin. This racist measure is not new: faced with the planned dismantling of the public university system, university presidents have been searching for money everywhere for years to reduce their deficits by targeting the most vulnerable students. An example can be found at Paris 1 University.
Even before the Minister's announcements, the administration of Paris 1 University had already decided to serve as a stepping stone for the far right by imposing a racist and austerity budget. To finance her EUR300,000 private staircase and her new campus bristling with cameras, she instituted national preference and increased tuition fees fifteenfold for first-time university students from outside the EU. She also chose to charge tuition fees to the precarious teaching staff who teach there: reducing salaries is no longer enough; now they have to pay to work!
Faced with this shameful budget, all institutional avenues were explored. Despite the clear opposition of the vast majority of university staff, students, and the main unions, the administration refused any dialogue. It even went so far as to call the police into the university to intimidate a general assembly being held outside its windows.
An exemplary but insufficient struggle. Fortunately, things didn't end there. Those targeted by these measures took the initiative to organize the struggle themselves. Precarious teachers, for example, built a massive grassroots strike movement to withhold exam grades. Students also organized general assemblies and public awareness campaigns.
Coordination was also established between all the movements to ensure the burden of the strike did not fall on administrative staff. These are often lower-paid women who are more susceptible to harassment and pressure from their superiors. Unions, notably Sud Éducation and CGT Doctorantes, also supported the struggle and facilitated its self-organization: booking meeting rooms, organizing office visits to discuss the issues with colleagues, and so on.
Unfortunately, the movement resulted in only a partial victory, leading to minor modifications to the measure. The authoritarianism of the university administration and the fatigue of a movement that lasted several months help explain this, but they are not the only reasons. The weakness of the student movement, weakened by the collapse of student organizations, as well as the lack of support from tenured professors, prevented the movement led by precarious workers from gaining momentum. These workers were also victims of individual pressure and job blackmail. Finally, strategic tensions between the most radical and those who preferred to conserve their energy for a future struggle complicated the last general assemblies.
Once again, the absence of a national movement and the proxy strike by the "left-wing" bourgeoisie forced the most precarious workers to bear the brunt of this hard-line movement alone. A glimmer of hope: the unions have strengthened, and a new generation of activists has emerged. Will they be the ones to build the next struggles?
Hugo (UCL Paris Nord Est)
https://www.unioncommunistelibertaire.org/?Budgets-racistes-et-austeritaires-Relancer-la-lutte-dans-les-facs
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Source: A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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