Occupied Hull

The University has hastily installed a new lock today on the main access point to the Occupation. As an addition to the 24 hour security on the main door to the Staff House building, as of last night, further security has been posted to 24 hour duty directly outside the entrance to the occupied area. We believe this is a response to the increased numbers of participants getting involved in the Occupation this week, as well as the fact that we have given no indication of an intention to vacate the premises any time soon.

The new rules of access state that only staff/students of University of Hull be allowed entrance to the Occupation upon showing identification. This seems to be a response to:

• The University’s increasing agitation regarding the public workshops and discussions held in the Occupation.
• Increasing momentum of the Occupation in terms of numbers of Occupiers, publicity and public support. This is an attempt to intimidate us and halt our progress.
• The Occupation’s co-operation with Trade Unions: University management refused to go ahead with a planned negotiation with Occupiers if Trade Unionist were present. In this video you can see the management walking away from the scheduled meeting:

https://www.facebook.com/v/130840570319228

Members of the Occupation have just received the following message from University management delivered by security. It seems that they are no longer willing to have face-to-face contact with us:

The University of Hull is committed to promoting and positively encouraging free speech and lawful protest; and it has so far tolerated your unauthorised use of a room in Staff House, even though we consider this to constitute trespass and reiterate our request for you to vacate the room. you have had a reasonable opportunity of almost a fortnight now in which to publicise and build your campaign.

The University cannot however accept an indefinite continuation of the situation. We have to take into account of the interests and the concerns of staff, students and members of the public affected by your actions, and we cannot ignore the disruption being caused by your actions to the normal work of the University. To this end the University will amend as follows the existing protocols, with effect Friday 18th February 2011 and until further notice

1. From 9pm Friday the 18th February access to the Conference Room 1 is restricted to students and staff of the University of Hull only.
2. Out of hours access to Staff House by University of Hull students and staff visitors will be via the side door to the building next to the Myton Cafe. This door will be manned by a security guard who will require all those entering or re-entering to show student/staff identification. Anyone without identification will not be allowed entry.
3. The number of students and staff entering and leaving the building will be logged for Health and Safety purposes, and will not exceed safe limits for the room/premises.
4. Access to the building after 9pm is not permitted.
5. A ten minute smoking break will be retained  at 11.30pm for the time being. No access by additional/staff into the building will be allowed at this point; only those in the building at 11.30pm will be permitted to re-enter after the smoking break.
6. After 8.30am on Monday morning, access for students to the occupied area will be monitored and logged via a security guard at the bottom of the access staircase.
7. Previous protocols not amended by the above points will be maintained for the time being.

At around 6pm tonight the Occupation heard news that police were gathering outside. Earlier tonight we recieved a letter from University management insisting that the Occupation members: vacate the premisise immediately, cancel all ‘unsanctioned events’ scheduled in the occupation and discus the issues with the University to ‘bring this dispute to a close’. It is unclear whether the ‘unsanctioned events’ mentioned refers to the Open Mic social, the self-defence class (led by a fully-licensed instructor) or the beginners knitting class.

We have received conflicting reports from security staff at the University. One security guard claimed that the police had just stopped by for a chat. Another guard informed us that the University had called the police and asked them to forcibly remove us. The police were not able to do so without an injunction.

We are currently formulating an action plan. Solidarity and legal advice would be greatly appreciated. email: occupiedhull@gmail.com                    Facebook friend: ‘Hull Uni Occupation’

If you wish to help us https://anticuts.com/2011/02/17/police-outside-hull-university-occupation/

A meeting with members of the University senior management and elected representatives of the Occupation had been arranged for 3.30 today. However following negotiations this morning, the University have refused to allow the meeting to continue after being made aware that Trade Union officials had been invited to the meeting. The University is refusing to compromise on any negotiations put forward by the Occupation and have requested for an official statement from the Occupiers in which we refuse to vacate the building.

The following members of Hull Uni Occupation are running for positions on the HUU Council.

President – Chris Marks

VP Education – Josh Hollands

VP Community – Sean Mclaughin

VP Welfare – Aimee Kent-Payne

Womens’ Officer – Dominique Richards

Chair of Environment and Ethics – Joe Brownridge

NUS Delegates – Chris Marks, Josh Hollands and Aimee Kent-Payne

All these events will take place in the main occupation unless otherwise stated. All are welcome!

TUESDAY

5:00PM: Occupation General Meeting

7.OOPM: DISSCUSSION: Socialist-Feminism and a screening of the film ‘Made in Dagenham’, the story of the women workforce of the Dagenham Ford factory who went on strike in the 1970s.

WEDNESDAY

2.00pm: WORKSHOP: Beginners Mandarin Chinese.

5:00PM: Occupation General Meeting

6.30pm: MEETING: Women of Hull Against the Cuts (WHAC) on women in students’ union elections

THURSDAY

5:00PM: Occupation General Meeting

7.30pm: WORKSHOP: Knitting for beginners.

FRIDAY

1.30om: WORKSHOP: Self-defence

5:00PM: Occupation General Meeting

6.30pm: WORKSHOP: Poetry and short-story workshop

7.30pm: OCCU-PARTY: Open mic night – bands, poetry and politics.

Sorry for the late update! It’s been busy up here in the occupation!

On Monday 7th February the Union Council voted to put our proposed motion through to a referendum. Last time we occupied, one of the reasons why a lot of debate arose concerning the occupation was because we were the only occcupation in the country that did not have the backing of its own union.

The decision on Monday means that the motion that was amended and passed through the union council will now be voted on by the students of Hull University.

The motion that passed reads as follows:

1. Issue a  message on the  front-page of HullStudent.com  supporting this occupation

2. Make available £300 for use by the occupation

3. Write a letter and urge the Vice Chancellor to do the same, to the Chief Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police for their actions on the demonstrations on the 9th of December 2010.

We shall post details of the referendum in the near future.

The occupation has come up with the following list of demands:

= Open the books – publish university finances

= An open debate with the Vice Chancellor – topic: education funding

= Publically condemn the cuts

= Refuse to raise fees

= No staff redundancies – maintain existing working conditons

= Security work given to University staff – no private contractors

At 6:00pm this evening, a group of students from Hull University reoccupied Staff House.

The security have responded to our occupation by locking us in.

More updates soon!