by gingerbeer on Tue Apr 29, 2003 6:56 pm
As much as I agree with the idea of a protest, I don't think the rent strike would such a good idea because of one thing the university has that we don't: Lawyers. They wouldn't be doing this unless they knew they could get away with it and we probably don't have legal grounds for a strike because they do what their contracts say they will, the council won't make any attempt to shut down buildings or issue warnings (which is perfectly legal as local authorities have the right to use their discretion, particularly when it comes to state-funded institutions) and the only possible means that we could use to force them to accept their responsibility to provide a decent service would be through the Landlords' Charter, which they have repeatedly refused to sign, despite the fact that it was written in consultation with them. The only real legal recourse we have is to sue if the standard of accommodation gets so bad that it becomes a health risk, and even then it would be a difficult case to prove.
The threat of disciplinary action would be a much bigger problem than the actual use of it because disciplining large numbers of students for peaceful protest would be very bad publicity. I don't agree that annoying the university hierarchy is a bad thing though, it can't put us at any more of a disadvantage because they refuse to listen to us anyway. Protests like this, which would be visible to the public, are really the only thing left to try because public image comes a lot higher up their list of priorities than student welfare.
[hr]It was so much easier to blame it on Them. It was bleakly depressing to think that They were Us. If it was Them, then nothing was anyone's fault. If it was us, what did that make Me? After all, I'm one of Us. I must be. I've certainly never thought of myself as one of Them. No one ever thinks of themselves as one of Them. We're always one of Us. It's Them that do the bad things.
-Terry Pratchett