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Sabbatical officers to consider leaving National Union of Students UNION officers have put forward a motion which could see UEA dissafiliate from the National Union of Students. The plan, which was discussed at the Union Executive meeting on December 3, claimed that the NUS is not worth the annual £35,000 fee it charges. Academic Officer, James Harrison and Communications Officer, Emma Reynolds, who set up the proposal also believe the organisation is dictated by politics and is past any reform. "lt was discussed at an exec meeting
as we have become unsure about what sort of benefits our students are getting from NUS. We are going to look at how unions who are not members fund themselves," said Emma. But if the move went ahead, UEA students would be barred from taking part in any national events organised by the NUS - and they would not be represented on a national scale either. This would leave students at the University without a voice as they would be unable to attend rallies against tuition fees, go to the annual National Conference - as well as losing the chance to vote on numerous student issues.
KATIE HIND
News Editor
lt is not just the issue of representation which would change for members of the UEA Union. Currently they are eligible for a number of deals which keep food and drink costs down for students. National company NUSSL broker bargains with corporations such as Coca Cola and Fosters which reduce the prices the Union pay - but without belonging to NUS, the Union would not be entitled to these discounts. But Emma has defended her decision
to sever the link - as she claims the Union are not getting enough from NUS . "We are getting more dissatisfied with NUS, we don't feel their officers are serving us. We asked for an officer to come to the first Union Council meeting but they didn't turn up." "The regional officer was also supposed to come to one of our exec meetings, but was two hours late and missed it, but he didn't even contact us to let us know. Then he didn't even contact us until the end of term to come to see UEA. These events have led us to question them," said Emma. But she also revealed that leaving the
NUS should not be a money matter - it should depend on representation reasons. "We have also discovered that what we save through NUSSL is the equivalent or more than what we pay NUS to be part of them, so to leave NUS would cost us money, so if we are to leave NUS, it can't be a financial decision, it has to be for representation reasons," she added. But a spokesperson for NUS believes that the link between unions and the national body are essential. " If the University dissafiliated they would not be able to take advantage of continued on page 2
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