ULU call for University of London vice chancellor Adrian Smith to resign

Protesters outside Parliament in January (3 Cosas Campaign)

Following a series of police incidents and allegations of attacks on protestors, students at the University of London have launched a campaign for the resignation of their vice chancellor Adrian Smith.

The campaign, known as “3 Cosas” (three matters, affairs in Spanish), has been putting pressure on the University of London for over a year, aiming to grant sick pay, holiday pay and pension rights to its outsourced workers.

The movement, led by the University of London branch of the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB), gained the approval of a few MPs earlier in the year as a three day strike in January was supported by John McDonnell, MP for Hayes and Harlington, Andy Burnham, MP for Leigh and Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn.

As the momentum of the campaign builds, there have been calls for a change of management by the University of London Union (ULU) and IWGB.

ULU claim: “The University of London management have lost all legitimacy. The people who run our University represent no one, and are elected by no one. Their actions this year has shown them to be cowardly and at odds with everything that academic institutions and communities should stand for.

“We should not demand new management but its abolition: to be replaced by democratic processes comprised of and accountable to the University’s students, workers and academics.”

A spokesperson for the University of London said that the university will “maintain the same attitude” as in previous protests in the campaign.

He said: “As long as any protests are peaceful and legitimate, we will happily accommodate them and help the organisers facilitate them.”

The 3 Cosas campaign will strike once more on the 28 February 2014 as Adrian Smith meets with other Vice Chancellors at Senate House.