I was recently in the UCL Special Collections (big shoutout, by the way) when I encountered a series of pamphlets produced by the Union in the 1980s.
They advised students on housing issues in a somewhat indelicate way, including a segment explaining that “yes, landlords are evil and will take advantage of you”, positioning the relevant sabbatical officer as someone you should personally speak to about housing, and even endorsing squatting.
I was bewildered. This is not the Union that I know: the one that runs media days so poorly that our editors get asked if they’re in charge of the event, the one that has ignored emails about welfare issues, the one that advertises its public office roles as graduate schemes... I could go on and on and on, but I’ll spare you the suffering.
I actually used to be a big fan. When my predecessor, the great Nick Miao, would propose another Union hit piece I would say, “But I like the Union!”, to his chagrin.
But I wasn’t being completely naive. If you’re in a society, the Union looms in your periphery whether you choose to acknowledge it or not. How could I dislike the Union when it is the facilitator of my beloved Cheese Grater?
The difference between the 1980s and now, of course, is that Students’ Unions were likely less concerned about reputational risks or legal issues. Students' Union UCL can’t be political as a charity, after all. But regardless of the politics, I was struck by how the Union presented itself so strongly on the side of students, even at the risk of being slightly blunt and combative.
The sabbatical officer existed beyond the weekly email. They were someone you could personally speak to about issues you were facing. When did the Union go from representing the student body to becoming a bureaucratic machine that simply administrates clubs and societies? Now it seems like it runs the student body from above rather than standing beside us.
When the Union and the sabbs feel indistinguishable from the rest of UCL, who is left to be unashamedly on the side of the students?