Strikers missed the point in their speeches

The higher education institutions of Utrecht went on strike on March 11, 2015, to manifest their dissatisfaction with the austerity measures proposed by the government. This made Utrecht the second city to join a series of strikes against the budget cuts. Or at least that was the intention. In addition to criticising the budget, the protest also discussed other issues – and that does not serve the cause, as far as I am concerned.

To my surprise, "solidarity" was a recurring theme in the speeches given at Dom Square. They stressed the importance of coming together to make our voices heard and raise our fists against The Hague. This feeling of being one with others is important but of little interest in a strike against drastic austerity measures.

Community spirit
A strike aimed at preventing massive budget cuts should convince those initiating said cuts that they are wrong. It should demonstrate how the quality of higher education is at stake and point out that research is necessary for an innovative society. We can only prevent the budget cuts from happening by making the government realise its consequences. Calling for a strong sense of community within higher education does not help this goal.

Clear thinking
One would expect higher education to produce clear thinking, so it is (a bit of a) shame that this particular strike didn't focus solely on convincing policymakers. There are other themes worth discussing, of course, including solidarity. But if you go on strike as a means to prevent budget cuts, it is best to only talk about the budget cuts. We should clearly show why they shouldn't take money away from higher education, explain our position, argue for it, and appeal to others! And leave things like "solidarity" aside for a moment, for the sake of clarity. After all, when it comes to budget cuts, it doesn't matter whether we feel a sense of unity with the rest of the higher education sector.

Focus
Our positions must be clear, especially when we intend to convince fellow citizens or politicians. So, let's explain why the government shouldn't reduce the budget and what the consequences will be if it does. In doing so, we will be talking to those who do not agree with us, letting them see why the budget cuts are a bad idea. Let's focus on that. It would be better to call for solidarity among higher education institutions some other time.

This op-ed was submitted to DUB by the Philosophy student Bram Braat. It only represents the point of view of its author and does not necessarily represent DUB's point of view.