It will not have escaped anyone’s notice: the government is planning to make major cuts to higher education, despite the underinvestment in this sector for many years. Also, work pressure is now so high that the Netherlands Labour Authority is threatening to take action if we don’t do something to resolve this situation soon. Universities are feeling compelled to take far-reaching measures that will seriously threaten the quality and independence of our education and internationally renowned research.
Unfortunately, negotiations came to nothing. Actions yielded very few results, and their main aim would seem to be to drive groups apart. Students against lecturers and universities of applied sciences against research universities. The outcomes have not made it possible to safeguard the quality of higher education, which is why unions have now decided to use their most powerful tool: a strike.
Marjan Gorgievski is an associate professor at the Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Sciences and the director of the Psychology programme. She also represents FNV Overheid on the Erasmus Labour Council (the local trade union consultation), in which the AOb union is represented as well.
What makes a strike different from campaigning? When a strike is declared, all employees have the right to strike. This applies regardless of the work they do and regardless of their employment relationship. Work comes to a standstill and employees may not be penalised for this in their appraisals, even if problems happen because they went on strike. That’s quite something, and it really goes against the fundamental, prosocial values of the people who work at research universities and universities of applied sciences. From professors to IT workers, from study advisors to administrative officers: they are all known for their intrinsic motivation to do well by, help and make a difference to others.
For as long as I can remember, holidays, sabbaticals and conference visits have been carefully planned around teaching at our faculty. When I was a member of the Examining Board of the Psychology programme, I took very short holidays in the summer months to make sure exceptions could be dealt with on time and to ensure that students would not experience any unnecessary delays in their studies.
We are proud to say that previous actions, like the demonstration on Malieveld, have had a minimal impact on education. Activist students even continued to show respect for their less activist peers during the recent Palestine demonstrations. Protesters who invaded one of my colleague’s lessons obligingly left after ten minutes once they had drawn attention to the plight of the Palestinians. The only reminder of their good cause? The banners and flags they left behind.
On 8 April 2025, it’ll be Rotterdam’s turn to do its bit in the relay strike that universities have organised against higher education cuts. Anyone who wants to is welcome to go along to the Van der Goot building on the action day (24 March 2025) to have their say about what the strike day will involve.
A strike situation is very different. Everyday things come to a halt. Missed lessons aren’t repeated later. Anyone contacting any of the support departments will receive an autoreply telling them that their questions will be answered later. The disruption is expected to make itself felt for some time after the strike. This means people won’t get the answers they are looking for on the evening of the strike day and probably not the next working day either. Work pressure is already so high that there won’t be enough extra capacity to be able to catch up quickly.
Even so, it’s very important for all of us to go on strike now. Because if staff can’t afford to miss one day of support and students can’t afford to miss a lecture or tutorial, imagine how much worse it would be to have to do without them altogether as of next year. We’re already at the stage where we can’t carry on doing everything we do now with fewer resources. In the Psychology programme, tutorial group sizes are increasing and specialisation courses are being dropped. For the first time in 24 years, tutorials are being cancelled if lecturers are ill because there’s no one to replace them. So, the deterioration is already visible and palpable.
Strikes are the last and most powerful tool we have, and now is the time to use them. The nationwide relay strikes have been organised ahead of the education budget debate in the Senate. The outcome of this debate could still stop the plans.
A strike also allows colleagues to take action who would otherwise really have no chance of catching up their work on another day. This is important, because the power of a strike depends on the number of people who participate. So, please come along to the action meeting on 24 March 2025. The specifics of EUR’s strike day will be decided there and include stage programmes, a march through the city and outdoor lessons as part of National Outdoor Learning Day. The meeting will take place at 3 pm in Room M1-18 of the Van der Goot building. You and your colleagues or fellow students can make a real difference to the future of higher education!
