Relay strike against cutbacks soon also in Tilburg

At Tilburg University, teachers and researchers will soon be able to participate in the national relay strike against the cuts in higher education. That is the outcome of an action meeting this Thursday afternoon.

A full house and a lot of willingness to act. The information and action meeting on Thursday 13 March about the announced relay strike on 10 April attracts a lot of attention. The room quickly fills up with employees, but also with students. There are more than a hundred people present.

The trade unions FNV, AOb, WOinActie and student union F.U.S.T. are organizing the meeting to gauge the mood among members and sympathizers, and to inform them about the strike. Because for many people it is the first time they are going on strike.

Support for peaceful protest

Teachers and researchers at Tilburg University can go on strike on Thursday, April 10. Naomi Kamoen of the General Education Union (AOb): ‘The university has already announced that striking on that day has no consequences. Wages are not withheld, and strikers do not have to register. The university will remain open, but the board supports a ‘peaceful protest’.’

Joran Jongerling, assistant professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences, came to the meeting because he is worried about the future. ‘What will education look like for students in the future?’ he wonders. The workload of colleagues and the social climate for internationals are also at stake, according to Jongerling.

Students also affected

There are about twenty students in the room. Do the cutbacks actually affect them, a student wonders. Thijs Jansen of student union F.U.S.T. responds bluntly: ‘You must distinguish between the short and long term. In the long run, the cutbacks will also affect students.’

‘The quality of education and the value of a diploma are at stake if the cutbacks continue, so that affects students directly,’ says Jansen when asked. ‘Furthermore, all kinds of facilities will come under pressure.’

If board grants and student services such as ICT services or student psychologists are scaled down, students will feel it immediately, says Jansen. So, students are also warmly encouraged to join the protest.