Hacksmiths fully supports UCU strike action — Friday of Anvil Hack IV cancelled.
As students, and as the leaders of the largest society at Goldsmiths, we would be nowhere without the massive amount of support from our academic staff. Many of them go out of their way to support their classes and ensure the success of every student which walks through the doors.
The average striking staff member will lose £10,000 a year of their pension and in the same way we receive unnerving support from them, we plan to reciprocate it and stand in solidarity with them in their strike action as the proposal to cut pensions for staff is completely unacceptable. On a series of strike dates, an estimated 500 staff members will stand on the picket line and we plan to support them in any way we can.
As Hacksmiths continues to grow, we have brought industry and media attention to an institution which refuses to look out for it’s own team. As we have a large number of students as members of our society, we felt the need to do something.
From a selfish standpoint as students, this move will make it harder for the university to recruit and retain good staff. Many students are now seen as ‘customers’ and staff as a ‘cost’, and cutting costs in this way will affect us. As people who care about our lecturers and other academic staff, it’s clear that they will be severely impacted. In a world where students are being charged more than ever for education, it is not okay for universities to be resistant in supporting academic staff.
Friday February 23 is the first day of Anvil Hack IV — a free day of workshops which we hoped will contribute to new student recruitment within the college. We believe that continuing to run this event and encouraging attendance as normal could weaken the negotiating power of our staff in their strike action. As such, we stand alongside them and cancel the first day of Anvil Hack IV when strike action is planned. Saturday and Sunday remain unaffected with the hackathon starting at 11am as planned.
Please feel free to email team@goldsmiths.tech if you have any questions.
Kevin, Anni, Nathaniel and Isabella
Hacksmiths Executive Committee 2017–2018
