The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts, love-child of ULU President Mi- chael Chessum and other student activists, laid preliminary plans at its conference last weekend to establish a new student organi- sation, the ‘Federation of Fighting Students Unions. Inspired in part by the recently established Québécoise student federation ASSE, which fought for and won the aboli- tion of tuition fees in Québec, the NCAFC federation idea is the newest move by the radical left to challenge NUS leadership in this country. On a more personal level, it seems, having failed to be elected Vice Presi- dent of the NUS two years in a row, Ches- sum has decided to establish his own union.
Although the plans are in their infancy, Chessum’s proposal suggests the ‘federation’ will function primarily as a funding channel for NCAFC's anti-cuts, anti-fees and lib- eration campaigning, participating students’ unions paying affiliation fees. Chessum says affiliation fees will be used in a “fighting way”. In return for affiliation, student union officers will receive ‘activist training’ and in- struction on how to make ‘radical reforms’ to their unions. Although for the time be- ing student unions will be able to affiliate to both the NUS and the FFSU, there is talk amongst some left dominated SUs — includ- ing UCLU - of disaffiliation from the NUS. The ‘federation’ comes out of the NUS’s perceived failure to fight against tuition fees. “The NUS is the only student un- ion in the world that failed to fight when fees were introduced and subsequently when they were raised twice,” says Maham Hashmi, SOAS SU officer and NCAFC activist. The NCAFC also see the NUS as lictle more than a career path for aspiring Labour hack: largely run by people who don't believe in even the principle of free education,” says Chessum. “I hate the NUS;" said Sam Gaus, UCLU Democracy and Communications Officer.
NCAFC and the radical left have been challenging the NUS’s monopoly on the ‘student voice’ for the last two years but the 21st November demo brought their dissatis- faction to a head when eggs and a small sat- suma were thrown at NUS president Liam Burns. “It was a miserable route, a miserable rally led by miserable people!” said Edwin Clifford-Coupe, UCLU Education and Campaigns Officer and NCAFC activist. Estimates of numbers on the NUS organised march range between 4,000 and 10,000 peo- ple,in stark contrast to the 40-50,000-strong marches organized by NCAEC in 2010. Add to this a route that bypassed Parliament and ended in a soggy field in Kennington and student anger in egg form was “under- standable” says Clifford-Coupe. After the protest, Liam Burns was apparently bumped off Newsnight, the programme instead in- viting Alice Swift,a NCAFC activist to rep- resent the student voice.
The ‘federation’ idea was presented to NCAFC conference on Saturday, getting an “overwhelmingly positive” response said Luke Durigan, UCLU activist and newly elected NCAFC national committee mem- ber. On Sunday the conference voted to hold an emergency session in spring 2013 exclusively to discuss implementation of the ‘FFSUidea — “It will be done” said Durigan. NUS Press officer, Alex Jones, told us he was aware of the NCAFC ‘federation’ plan but made no comment on the NUS’s position towards it.