UCU’s Higher Education Committee passes an emergency motion in support of the Sussex Five

UCU’s Higher Education Committee passes an emergency motion in support of the Sussex Five:

Stop criminalisation of student protesters at the University of Sussex

HEC notes:

• Five University of Sussex students were suspended on 4th Dec. after having taken part in an occupation of the university carried out as an act of solidarity with UCU, UNISON and UNITE in our fight for fair pay in HE.

• Sussex Students Union has issued a statement of support for the five students, launched a petition condemning their suspension, and has written to the Vice-Chancellor defending the right for students to protest on campus, and have called upon him to immediately retract the suspensions.

HEC resolves to:

• Immediately issue a public statement of support for the suspended students highlighting the importance of the solidarity our members have received from such students in our current dispute for fair pay and the fight against inequality and increasing casualisation on campus.

• Write to Sussex University’s VC calling upon him to immediately retract the five student suspensions.

• Circulate the weblink to the Sussex Student Union’s petition calling for the retraction of the suspensions to all UCU members.

• Publicly condemn the measures increasingly being taken by university managements against dissent on campus, such as the promotion of exemplary punishments and the use of heavy policing in attempts to infringe freedom of expression and the right to protest.