Students' Union 'strike' referendum

mloc · 07-03-2009 7:33pm

I will most certainly be breaking this strike. I'm embarassed to be associated in any way with the SU at this stage. I simply cannot take a day off at the whim of uninformed, pseudopolitical non-students because they are too blind, stupid or naive to see how absurd an idea this is.

Maybe it's just me, but should we not be trying to make our college better, as opposed to bigger or cheaper?

muffinman · 09-03-2009 2:04am

El Siglo wrote: »

This has to be the worst decision ever made, how this even got to a referendum stage is beyond me, are the union retarded or just stupid?:mad:

I believe (though I'm open to correction) that to have a referendum 1000 signatures of students are required..
I think what happened (again open to correction) is that FEE got these petitioners' signatures, and so a referendum had to go ahead..

Ridiculous decision.. People were voting for it on the basis of it being a "drinking day", not considering what it actually means..

Mushy · 09-03-2009 11:02am

muffinman wrote: »

I believe (though I'm open to correction) that to have a referendum 1000 signatures of students are required..
I think what happened (again open to correction) is that FEE got these petitioners' signatures, and so a referendum had to go ahead..

Ridiculous decision.. People were voting for it on the basis of it being a "drinking day", not considering what it actually means..

If that is the case then I apologise for signing the petition.

pljudge321 · 09-03-2009 3:52pm

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/idgbcweysn/

Looks like anyone already in the system won't be stung for fees.

Once this becomes common knowledge I predict good ole' student apathy will
set in even more and the campaigns will lose momentum as people realize they don't really care that much if only a small number of incoming first years will be the ones affected.

Mushy · 09-03-2009 4:24pm

pljudge321 wrote: »

http://www.irishexaminer.com/ireland/idgbcweysn/

Looks like anyone already in the system won't be stung for fees.

Once this becomes common knowledge I predict good ole' student apathy will
set in even more and the campaigns will lose momentum as people realize they don't really care that much if only a small number of incoming first years will be the ones affected.

Well, even though I won't take it as gospel just yet, at least there is some form of clarity appearing on the issue.

Stabshauptmann · 09-03-2009 6:53pm

Mushy wrote: »

If that is the case then I apologise for signing the petition.

You signed something without checking what it was?!

Mushy · 09-03-2009 7:14pm

Kaptain Redeye wrote: »

You signed something without checking what it was?!

Some girl came up to me talking about it. Seemed like a good idea at the time, as I probably wasn't paying full attention with talking to others. Just didn't check it through too much, and am assuiming it was the same thing(as besides some other petition that probably didn't go ahead).

Time Magazine · 09-03-2009 7:26pm

smemon wrote: »

You're not going to buy something you can't afford

This is precisely the reason the State should stop providing free fees.

mad lad · 09-03-2009 8:26pm

Result of the referendum

total % For: 82% Against: 18%
toatal votes For: 4918 Against: 881 Spolit 167

PrivateEye · 09-03-2009 9:49pm

This thread reminds me of the 'I voted for it, but all the eejits voted No because they didn't have a clue what they were voting on' event of last year.

The decision was a democratic one. Accept it.

Breezer · 09-03-2009 9:51pm

PrivateEye wrote: »

This thread reminds me of the 'I voted for it, but all the eejits voted No because they didn't have a clue what they were voting on' event of last year.

*Holds worm-filled can in one hand, tin opener in the other, and proceeds to post:*

Didn't they subsequently find that quite a large number of people didn't know what they were voting for in that particular instance?

mad lad · 09-03-2009 10:05pm

In fairness, the UCDSU referendum was a couple of lines long. It can hardly be compared to the Lisbon Treaty.

Breezer · 09-03-2009 10:07pm

mad lad wrote: »

In fairness, the UCDSU referendum was a couple of lines long. It can hardly be compared to the Lisbon Treaty.

Very true.

*Tries to cram worms back into the can*

PrivateEye · 09-03-2009 10:29pm

....nobody has any way of proving why the majority students voted Yes or No, unless you're going to go find the 4,918 voters out of the 20,000+ on campus and ask them individually. As it stands, the decision was one taken in a democratic manner and the S.U now have to commit to campaigning against the re-introduction of third level fees.

This ain't no 68- will the kids show up on campus on the day and protest? Who knows. Some will however, and the 80%+ support for the referendum is, in my opinion, a (small) victory for the student movement.

****I wasn't comparing the treaty to the referendum, just the 'they ticked the wrong box, the gobsh/tes' attitude after a vote didn't go as planned.

passive · 09-03-2009 11:13pm

PrivateEye wrote: »

'they ticked the wrong box, the gobsh/tes' attitude after a vote didn't go as planned.

which is an understandable response when "as planned" is "not f*cking stupid and bad for everyone involved*

33% God · 09-03-2009 11:46pm

passive wrote: »

which is an understandable response when "as planned" is "not f*cking stupid and bad for everyone involved*

Ahh, when will the ignorant unwashed masses learn that we know better than them and they should just tick the box we tell them to, that's how democracy was supposed to work.

muffinman · 10-03-2009 1:10am

PrivateEye wrote: »

....nobody has any way of proving why the majority students voted Yes or No, unless you're going to go find the 4,918 voters out of the 20,000+ on campus and ask them individually. As it stands, the decision was one taken in a democratic manner and the S.U now have to commit to campaigning against the re-introduction of third level fees.

This ain't no 68- will the kids show up on campus on the day and protest? Who knows. Some will however, and the 80%+ support for the referendum is, in my opinion, a (small) victory for the student movement.

****I wasn't comparing the treaty to the referendum, just the 'they ticked the wrong box, the gobsh/tes' attitude after a vote didn't go as planned.

Just speaking from what I've heard among my friends (I'm in Quinn :P), people hadn't really heard much about the referendum, and voted "against fees", while others, as i said earlier, were voting for a drinking day..
Didn't hear one of them actually genuinely in favour of a college "strike"

passive · 10-03-2009 1:50am

33% God wrote: »

Ahh, when will the ignorant unwashed masses learn that we know better than them and they should just tick the box we tell them to, that's how democracy was supposed to work.

Yeah, that's totally what I said. Good luck with this anti-fees-no-matter-what jazz. I'm sure you honestly believe it's going somewhere, and the strike isn't just a waste of a day of class. It's definitely not about the eternal struggle, and trying to define yourself by being part of a cause. Not at aaaallll...

P_1 · 10-03-2009 2:04am

Ok so for better or worse this is going ahead.

I presume it will be on the same day that the staff are holding industrial action.
What exactly is planned for us students to do on this day of "strike"? I've read somewhere on this thread that one of the main parts of this "strike" will consist of students watching a movie.

Now if the staff are holding industrial action on the same day I presume this means that the libary etc will be closed.

Personally I could not be arsed dragging my carcass all the way from Balbriggan to UCD just to watch a movie. I'm sure many others will be of a similar opinion.

It will be interesting to see how many of those 4000+ students who voted yes will actually show up for this day of "strike".

Students' Union 'strike' referendum

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