#OccupyLSE sit-in on campus shows solidarity with UCU

Klara Woxström News Editor

Alan Nemirovski

Features Editor

Photographed by OccupyLSE e group, called ‘Occupy LSE’, is not directly a liated with the UCU, but their demands “echo the demands made by the UCU.” e sit-in comes on the heels of the rst of 18 strike days planned by the UCU, spanning February and March 2023. e rst day occurred on 1 February 2023. e next strike days are scheduled for 9 and 10 February.

On Friday 3 February, LSE students staged a sit-in outside of Centre Building to show solidarity with and protest alongside UCU members, who are demanding fair pay, sustainable workloads, reduced casualisation, and equitable treatment of sta .

Sarah Cat*, a second-year BSc International Relations student told e Beaver, “We are coming together because we are completely disgusted at the working conditions that LSE has for our sta , and our students, we understand that their working conditions are our learning conditions, and we want to show solidarity and help in the best way we can.”

“LSE has such a rich history of activism, but year by year that’s kind of died down and slowed down. It’s kind of frustrating to see. We’re here to show students … the [power] we can have as a collective … and to make noise and to take up space. And to let Minouche and all of the directors know that there are students who are willing to actually act and that care about our teachers.”

Tori Anderson, a third-year BSc International Relations student added, “I’m in my nal year of undergraduate study and for three years we haven’t seen a movement like this… is time around it is very important that stu- dents show solidarity, it’s crucial to the movement. I mean sta said to students that they can’t really support this due to rules and regulations, [they] can’t turn up to a sit-in, so [they] need the students to do it. It was a question whether the students would do that or not and [we] decided: yes.”

“So a er three long years, nally, as small as it is, it’s extremely important. I’m at Occupy LSE because this is history, we’re making history.”

Ishani Milward-Rose, a second-year BSc Social Anthropology student notes, “Considering that universities in the UK have £4 billion in reserves and only 3% of that would x all the demands of the UCU striking sta are demanding, considering that and the fact that universities aren’t investing in teachers … we’re here to raise your voice and be angry.”

Maiya McQueen, a postgraduate student studying MSc Social Anthropology, believes that “as a post-grad interna- tional student working part time, and is here taking out student loans… paying £24,000 a year for this university to violate faculty, sta and students over and over again is very, very frustrating, exhausting.”

“We all worked really hard to be here. is isn’t an easy university to get into and it’s even more di cult to engage with once you’re on campus. It’s exhausting and disheartening to show up somewhere that you’ve tried so so hard … to get to and they don’t care.”

An LSE spokesperson commented on the student sit-in, stating, “Free speech and freedom of expression underpin everything we do at LSE. e School has clear policies in place to protect individual’s rights to freedom of expression, ensure the facilitation of debates and enable all members of our community to refute ideas lawfully, whether through protest on campus or other means.

With regard to Occupy LSE and the UCU’s demand, they added, “LSE is committed to ensuring an excellent education for our students and supporting all LSE sta . Pay and pensions are negotiated at a national level. We are actively engaging with representative bodies on these issues in the strongest possible terms and continue to have constructive discussions with our local LSE branch of UCU about a wide range of matters.”

*Some names in this article have been changed to preserve anonymity.

UCU strike schedule: what to expect in the remaining weeks of term

Aysha Sarah Klara Woxström News Editors

LSE LT Term Week: Strike Days:

Week 5

Week 6

Week 7

Week 8

Week 9

14, 15, 16 February

21, 22, 23 February

27, 28 February, 1, 2 March

No Strikes

16, 17 March

Week 10 20, 21, 22 March