Students at Southlands College in Wimbledon listened attentively last weekend to speakers from the Moray House occupation in scotland. une students had occupied two days earlier. moray nouse was me rust occupation in Scotland-now Southlands was the The Southlands students had stuck their necks out, and they knew it. Many of the students at the college had not thought seriously of politicsbefore, let alone become involved in direct action to back up their demands.
nowever kut marun, te student union president, was confident that their example would spread all over the country. Already at that meeting unere were representatives trom two of the colleges nearby, who had come to coordinate their efforts.
REJECTED Southlands College has 270 final year students, but only about 15 or 20 have got iobs. Students at the meeting spoke of having thick wads or rejecuion sups and umay nearing nothing as the local authorities decided that tne number or applications for every post would make even returning a rejection slip too expensive, Des Tierney from Moray House spoke about the fight in Scotland. In the occupied college they had plastered the walls with rejection slips to make students realise that this is not ar individual problem-it is connected with the whole crisis in the education system and the cutbacks being implemented in the social services as a whole by the Labour Government. NOT SPECIAL He pointed out that if students at Southlands were to build support among teachers and the trade unions. they must not look on themselves as a special case. The cuts and unemployment are hitting Valerie Coultas, NUS Executive anc IMG member, warned the students that they had to rely on their own struggle and not on the NUS Executive itself to carry it forward. It was likely tnat the Broad Left majority on the Executive, while supporting them in words, would try to reduce action that could win Jobs into a mere pro test.
The Southlands students had elected an occupation committee, and as soon as the occupation was firmly settled, they had copied the example of the Scottish students by sending out flying pickets to get support and action from nearby colleges.
Leafletting in the local High Street had also got a favourable response from those whom they spoke to, as they had stressed that it is not just jobs that are at stake-children's education in crowdea classrooms Is the orner side or the com or teacner unemployment.
New proposals came after Des and Valerie had spoken: a visit to the
4. Health/Letters is no answer - in fact it is the road to disaster.
For the IS, who correctly reject participation schemes, the crucial thing is to build up the trade union strength of We have explained how the, 'solutions' of the Socialist Medical Association do not challenge the domination of the capitalist state over the National Health Service. Nor do the simplistic solutions put forward by the International Socialists provide a way out. Retreating into 'pure' trade unionism Gainst the state and the privileged groups such as the consultants and the senior administrators who run and control the Red Weekly 27 May 1976 CRISIS IN THE THE SOCIALIST SOLUTION RACTICE NOV 2