Students organise to defend right to unionism

by Dora Anthony

The Federal Government's plan to introduce Voluntary Student Unionism (VSU) 
is being strongly challenged by the National Union of Students (NUS), who 
have begun devising campaigns and strategies to defend the student 
voice.

At a recent NUS conference on January 17 and 18, held at the university of 
Technology Sydney, university students highlighted the political 
implications of the Government's proposal to abolish compulsory membership* 
as students would have diminished power to organise collectively.

The Government is wary of the strength of student unions because universal 
membership is the most effective way students can form opposition to 
government policies which are against the interests of students.

In the present climate the introduction of VSU would effectively weaken NUS 
opposition to the cuts to higher education and Youth Allowance parental 
means testing. It would also serve to weaken student opposition to the GST.

This is already evident in Western Australia, where there is a state-
implemented VSU. Up-front fees were introduced because the student guilds 
did not have the means to mount an influential "no" campaign. VSU in 
Western Australia has reduced unionism to between 10 and 20 per cent, and 
the student guilds at two universities are now defunct.

Under the Victorian model of VSU, institutions are allowed to levy an 
"amenities fee" used for student services  excluding political activities.

Researcher Liz Humphreys of the University of Western Sydney said that past 
anti-VSU demonstrations aimed at protecting services at Victorian 
universities rather then the right to political representation, proved 
unsuccessful when the Government changed its legislation to allow for 
students to continue funding their own services of non political content.

University unions in their formative years were encouraged by conservative 
governments and vice chancellors because they were to provide a wide range 
of services for students in order to enrich university life.

It was not until the 1960s and 1970s when students became influential 
through their involvement in broader social issues that conservative 
governments began to take measures to lessen the influence of the union.

The struggle of NUS to protect compulsory union membership is not new. But 
the push for the national implementation of VSU is one of the most far-
reaching moves against student unionism, in line with the Government's 
union busting purposes.

NUS has the support of the National Tertiary Education Union which covers 
academic and general staff, and has forged alliances with other industrial 
unions.

It is expected to organise a range of demonstrations and other campaign 
initiatives when the university year begins around March.

*Most student organisations have a conscientious objection clause in their 
constitutions thus allowing for those with political, religious or other 
objections to avoid membership.