Let’s talk: Will you go on strike or step away from the protest?

What does your calendar say on 8 April? Is it marked ‘strike’? Or maybe ‘STRIKE’ in bold red letters, underlined, with a dozen exclamation marks? Or have you given up the fight and started applying for jobs outside academia? Share your thoughts and considerations with us.

University strikes are spreading across the country like a flu virus. From city to city, and in many places, turnout has been significant. In Groningen, 2,500 demonstrators gathered on the Grote Markt; in Amsterdam, around 4,500 people protested on Dam Square; in Utrecht, reports mentioned ‘several thousand Utrecht students and lecturers’. In Leiden, for the first time in its 450-year history, a strike took place, drawing about 3,000 people. How will Rotterdam fare on Tuesday 8 April?

Have you been practising your chants? ‘Fight! Fight! Fight! Education is a right!’ (as heard in Leiden) or ‘Don’t do it, don’t do it, don’t do it’, as they chanted in Utrecht? The strikes are part of a travelling protest against planned cuts of over one billion euros in higher education. No forced redundancies have been announced in Rotterdam yet, but the Executive Board has not ruled them out. Initial measures, such as the closure of five buildings on the Woudestein campus and a reorganisation at RSM, have already been implemented.

What’s your take on the strikes? Are you encouraging others to join? Or are you steering clear of the protest altogether?