The actions, part of the national relay strike in which Dutch universities take turns in striking for a day, were organised by AKKU, the unions and WOinActie.
Thousands of employees and students take action against budget cuts
The protests against the budget cuts to higher education held today on the campus of Radboud University and in the city centre of Nijmegen have mobilised thousands of people. There was also a lot of support from the business community and (local) politicians.
After handing out flyers at the entrances of buildings to encourage people to participate in the protests, protest signs were made at the Linnaeus building. A brass band started off the programme, after which various speakers took the stage to express their displeasure with the cabinet's plans for budget cuts. The speakers indicated that these plans are an attack on education, research and innovative strength. A collective appeal to the Senate was also heard: Don't do it.
The unions, president of the Executive Board of HAN University of Applied Sciences Rob Verhofstad, researcher Bas Bloem and president of Radboud University’s Executive Board Alexandra van Huffelen, among others, spoke out: “Cutting education budgets is not free. It is disastrous.”
Protest march
After a protest march from the campus to the city centre of Nijmegen, the actions continued at the podium on the Grote Markt. Several speakers, including member of the House of Representatives Jimmy Dijk (SP) and member of the Senate Paul van Meenen (D66), spoke out against the budget cuts. “Education and research are the raw materials of our society. They are the fuel of the economy (...) We must be incredibly careful with them,” the latter said.
Heleen Cocu-Wassink of Alliander was clear about how the cuts impact businesses: “The energy transition is impossible without good research and good education. That is why we support this action.”
To be continued
At the end of the day, the WOinActie flag was handed over to professor Rens Bod of the University of Amsterdam, where the relay strike will continue on Monday.
