- Conference
- 2020 Higher Education Service Group Conference
- Date
- 23 September 2019
- Decision
- Carried
Conference Notes:
1)The far-right are attempting to take their message of racism, Islamophobia and anti-Semitism onto university and college campuses.
2)The far-right group ‘Generation Identity’ have appeared on over 20 campuses, holding stunts and meetings.
3)Turning Point UK, a group with links to the alt-right in the US, have attempted to set up student societies at universities including UAL.
Conference Believes:
A)The far right are gaining confidence from a rise in racism globally, from Donald Trump in the White House, Bolsonaro in Brazil, Salvini in Italy to Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson here.
B)It is crucial that campus unions work with students to make our campuses free from racism and fascism.
Conference calls on the Higher Education Service Group Executive:
To work with other campus and student unions and anti-racist groups like Stand Up To Racism and Show Racism the Red Card to oppose the threat of Nazi, racist and fascist ideas on campus, and by organising a ‘Nazis Off Our Campuses’ campaign and by building solidarity against the far-right within and across our membership to stand up against these divisive ideologies.
i)To support and publicise the national tour and campaign by UCU and Stand Up To Racism at colleges and universities to highlight the growth of the far right.
ii)To develop anti-racist materials for staff and students that exposes the threat the far right represents.
iii)To encourage HE branches to take up the opportunity of participating in the training course provided by UNISON’s Learning and Organising Services on how to tackle the threat of the far right.
iv)To nationally support UNISON regions and branches in organising educational study trips about the Holocaust and disseminate this work.
v)To strongly encourage HE branches to bargain and negotiate for race equality for Black members, who in HE are disproportionately likely to be working in insecure and exploitative work, and to use UNISON’s materials and resources for branches to support this work.
vi)To welcome the support UNISON has continued to give to the Stand Up to Racism UN Anti-Racism day demos, now co-ordinated globally, and to organise in HE to support and encourage participation in the demonstrations in London, Cardiff and Glasgow in March 2020.