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Students at University of Puerto Rico
(UPR) led a 60-day occupation and strike this spring against austerity
measures. The action spread to 10 of the 11 UPR campuses and eventually
forced not only the temporary closure of the entire UPR system but the
capitulation of the administration to the students’ main demands, at
least temporarily.
The strike ended June 21, and students
at all 11 campuses democratically ratified the agreement that was
negotiated with the school administration. But the UPR Board of
Trustees and the government are already on the attack—taking steps to
reintroduce many of the same measures that were rejected.
The students’ high level of organization
and resilience against a university administration that tried to make
the students and faculty pay for the system’s budget shortfall should
be an excellent example and inspiration to all students who face
similar measures. Governments and administrations around the world are
seeking to cut education funds and raise rates—portraying these
measures as necessary evils because of the economic recession.
The students at UPR have shown that
students can lead a fightback that includes faculty, university
employees, and friendly unions to defend the right of education.
The action was first called by a
democratic meeting of over 3000 students who assembled on the Río
Piedras campus April 21 to begin a two-day occupation of the campus to
force the administration to negotiate in good faith. When the
administration refused to do so, a longer-term occupation and strike
was undertaken, which was later joined by almost all other campuses in
the UPR system, including some that were historically known to be more
conservative.
The UPR students acted in a highly
disciplined and organized manner from the beginning, while proceeding
democratically at every turn. They repeatedly fended off attempts by
the riot police to enter the campus gates. They organized to provide
food and water while police tried to lay siege to the campus;
surrounding the campus in riot gear, cutting off supplies and
physically brutalizing some of students and their allies.
The students held teach-ins,
traditional dance classes, poetry readings, and film screenings, and
many campuses also held concerts. They utilized every available means
to get their message out, including internet blogs, Facebook, and a
radio station they put together themselves (streaming live at
radiohuelga.com/wordpress to this day).
The students earned widespread support
not only from parents but from university faculty, unions and workers
throughout Puerto Rico. A one-day general strike was carried out by
unions on May 18 in solidarity with the students. Solidarity was voiced
by musical celebrities such as Ricky Martin, Rubén Blades, and the
group Calle 13—and when Cuban singer Silvio Rodriguez stopped in Puerto
Rico for a concert on May 31, he dedicated a song to the
students. A group of professors in the U.S. issued a letter of
support, and U.S. students who are facing similar cuts have taken
special note of their comrades in Puerto Rico and held solidarity
protests.
The main demands that were secured on
paper by the students in the agreement that was signed by the Board of
Trustees may seem familiar to students everywhere: no tuition
hike or special fee for this fall semester, no privatization of UPR
campuses, an amendment to legislation that wouldn’t allow the eliminate
of tuition waivers for underprivileged students, and finally an
agreement that no students involved in the occupation and protests
would face punishment.
Although it seemed at first as though
the UPR students had achieved substantial gains, the government and
university administrations immediately betrayed the agreement. The
government rammed through legislation, “Senate Bill 30,” without debate
or discussion, that adds four more governor-appointed members to the
Board of Trustees. The expanded Board rapidly instituted new cuts and a
$800 student fee, to begin in January.
A student coordinating committee held a
protest on June 26 to demand that the strike agreement be
honored and to protest improper involvement by the government. On June
30, police attacked a peaceful rally outside the Capitol building. They
used clubs and pepper spray, severely injuring dozens.
The conservative governor of Puerto
Rico is Luis Fortuño, who has pushed through notorious anti-worker
legislation like “Law 7,” which fired many workers to close the budget
deficit. His pursuit of austerity measures that pay for the capitalist
recession by punishing workers and students has now led to massive
government intervention into university affairs at UPR.
Some campuses seem to have been aware
of the treachery they faced even when they saw the wording of the
negotiated agreement that was signed, and only conditionally ratified
the agreement because they did not want their support for the agreement
to be misconstrued as acceptance of tuition hikes in January for spring
semester.
Despite the governmen’s attempts to
overturn the agreement, the students achieved a real victory. They
demonstrated their determination, seriousness, and organizational
capability when defending their right to education. They have secured
allies in their struggle locally and internationally and made it
crystal clear that they will have a hand in determining their
future.
They’ve provided a useful example for
all of those who believe that students and workers shouldn’t have to
pay for the capitalist crisis. With the same resolve and more support
from labor on the island, there is no limit to what they can achieve.
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