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<a href="http://socialistworker.org/2010/12/10/upr-students-resume-strikes">
http://socialistworker.org/2010/12/10/upr-students-resume-strikes</a><br>
Analysis: Rossana Rodriguez<br><br>
<br>
</font><h1><font size=4><b>UPR students resume
strikes</b></font></h1><font size=3>Student activists are organizing
again after University of Puerto Rico administrators tried to undo the
victory students won last summer, reports Rossana Rodriguez.<br><br>
December 10, 2010<br><br>
STUDENTS FROM six campuses in the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) system
have held a series of 48-hour strikes in the last week to oppose the
imposition of an $800 fee that is scheduled to take effect at the
beginning of the January 2011 semester.<br><br>
Students at the Río Piedras campus were among of the first to go out
after they held a December 1 mass assembly and voted by an overwhelming
majority to strike if the administration does not rescind the new fee by
December 14.<br><br>
The chancellor of the Río Piedras campus used every means possible to try
to stop the students from gathering, including the canceling academic
recess, freezing the bank account of the student council so that it
couldn't pay for the sound system, and denying students the use of a
space for their meeting.<br><br>
But UPR students are already used to doing things the hard way, so the
night before, they raised funds by approaching cars stopped at traffic
lights so they could rent a sound system for the outdoor meeting that
lasted five hours under the harsh rays of a sunny day at the university's
athletic track.<br><br>
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<br><br>
THE WAVE of strikes in the last week is a continuation of the struggle
against tuition hikes that began last summer with a two-month strike that
shut down all 11 UPR campuses. Students ended their strike in victory
when the administration agreed not to impose a $400 fee at the start of
the fall semester. But UPR is now trying to undo that victory for
students by imposing an $800 fee for the spring semester.<br><br>
If imposed, the fee would place a college education out of reach of many
working-class people. But students aren't ready to throw in the
towel.<br><br>
The 48-hour strike at the Río Piedras campus ended December 8, but not
before the university took extraordinary measures to try to stop it from
even starting.<br><br>
First, the administration tore down the campus' historic gates to make it
harder for students to control access to the campus. But students quickly
built barricades in response to the administration's actions. Then the
administration spent $1.5 million to hire a private security company
managed by former professional wrestler Chicki Star (ironically, his
character was known for using dirty tactics such as sucker punches and
double crosses).<br><br>
The former wrestler placed a "help wanted" ad on his Facebook
page for 200 people to work as security guards during the UPR strike.
Given the high levels of unemployment on the island, it's not surprising
that many young working-class people desperate for work showed up. Almost
immediately, there were clashes between the two groups of young
people.<br><br>
The guards were given batons and, in some cases, Taser guns to
"protect" public property from the students. Some guards also
carried knives, and at least one student was attacked and injured by a
guard.<br><br>
But what the administration and Chicki Star hadn't counted on was that
the students knew better than to see the young guards as their enemies.
On the second day of the 48-hour stoppage, strike leader Giovanni Roberto
got things started with a short speech in which he explained why the
student strikers were fighting for demands that also served the interests
of the newly hired guards.<br><br>
"If we win this strike, we <i>all</i> win--because we will have made
this university more accessible to us, to you and to your brothers and
sisters," said Roberto. "Everyone will have a chance for a
[better] future." The episode ended with many students and guards
shaking hands and hugging each other as they forged a peace based on
their shared interests.<br><br>
<a href="http://www.prdailysun.com/news/Police-takes-over-campus-after-stoppage">
According to Puerto Rico's
</a>
<a href="http://www.prdailysun.com/news/Police-takes-over-campus-after-stoppage">
<i>Daily Sun</a></i> [1]:<br><br>
</font>
<dl>
<dd>Moments later, the young guards were replaced by a different--and
evidently older--group of guards. An executive officer from Capitol
Security Services, the independent contractor in charge of campus
security, explained that the guards had been changed "because they
suffered from Stockholm Syndrome," a psychological condition in
which hostages tend to sympathize with their captors after an extended
period of time. The man did not explain how such a condition could relate
to the situation at the UPR or how he had reached that conclusion.
<br><br>
</dl>- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<br><br>
THE ADMINISTRATION is resorting to hardball tactics to try to intimidate,
demoralize and isolate strike leaders. So far, there have been expulsions
of students and arrests at several campuses. In Aguadilla, student
activist Ovidio Efraín López Alers, a member of the Organización
Socialista Internacional, was arrested and is now facing
charges.<br><br>
Though the university has tried to blame students for a couple episodes
of violence and damage to public property, it's the administration that
has done far more damage to the campus--by removing campus gates in Río
Piedras and Bayamón, for example.<br><br>
After students ended their 48-hour strike in Río Piedras, riot police
occupied the campus, and it now remains under police control. This is the
first time police have occupied the campus since the student strikes of
the early 1980s, when riot police broke up a student assembly at gunpoint
and then went on a rampage that left hundreds injured on campus and in
the surrounding neighborhood.<br><br>
After the police riot, the university adopted a non-confrontation policy
that kept police from entering campus--until now.<br><br>
But the university's attempts at intimidation have so far failed to stop
the sutdents. Not only did the strike spread to a total of six campuses,
but students already have pledged to begin an indefinite strike on
December 15 unless and until the fee is rescinded. Public-sector unions
are calling for a December 12 march to defend the university.<br><br>
In addition, UPR professors held a December 9 assembly and decided to
stop performing any professional duties until police leave the campus.
The professors also passed a resolution insisting that the administration
place a moratorium on the fee and agree to negotiate with the students.
However, they are also asking the students to postpone the strike so
negotiations can take place.<br><br>
But the university has shown that it has no interest in good-faith
negotiations. Case in point: The administration has repeatedly lied to
students about the university's finances as it made its case for the
tuition hike, making it practically impossible to have meaningful
dialogue about resolving the crisis.<br><br>
The administration told students that the $800 fee was necessary as
collateral for a credit line of $100 million with Puerto Rico's Banco
Gubernamental de Fomento (Government Development Bank, or BGF by its
initials in Spanish). But a letter from the BGF now in the possession of
student leaders directly contradicts this, stating that the collateral
for the credit line is actually money owed to UPR by government agencies
that have contracted with the university.<br><br>
This is merely the latest in a series of lies told by the UPR
administration--which explains why its credibility among students and in
the broader population is practically nil.<br><br>
The struggle of students in Puerto Rico is just one link in a chain of
global protests against austerity measures. After bailing out the global
financial system to the tune of trillions of dollars, governments around
the world are trying to force students and workers to pay for the
crisis.<br><br>
Puerto Rico's government has imposed a $140 million cut on UPR, showing
that it feels no shame at making the workers and the poor pay for the
government's own mismanagement. Now, it's up to students, faculty and
university workers to refuse to pay for a crisis that they had no hand in
creating.<br><br>
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -<br><br>
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<ol>
<li>[1]
<a href="http://www.prdailysun.com/news/Police-takes-over-campus-after-stoppage" eudora="autourl">
http://www.prdailysun.com/news/Police-takes-over-campus-after-stoppage</a>
<li>[2]
<a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0" eudora="autourl">
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0</a>
</ol><br><br>
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