English

The Concerned VU Group                                                                      

The Concerned VU Group (Verontruste VUer’s) is an open platform for academic and administrative staff of the VU University Amsterdam who are concerned about the consequences of the austerity program at the VU. We are concerned about the transformation of the University into a commercial institution. We are concerned about the 300-450 jobs that will be lost. We are concerned that the 33-million budget cuts that are not justified by the exceptionally negative scenario the board has projected. The planned measures will seriously impede the quality of education and research. We are concerned because the university is ruled by managers with sky-high salaries who have no affinity with scientific work or ethics. We are determined to put a halt to the implementation of a Strategic Plan that has recently been rejected by the Works Council, and a social plan that has been rejected by the Trade Unions. We are determined to fight for working conditions that facilitate high quality research and education. We are determined to keep higher education in the public sphere, to get control back into the hands of the people who know what is required to do their work well, and to preserve our high professionalism. Our platform meets regularly and organizes protests at board meetings and events to raise awareness for our issues and to support the Works Council and Trade Unions.

The VU University Amsterdam is no exception to the current European, Australian and ongoing US trend of commercializing public educational institutions. We question the legitimacy of this fundamental transformation of the operational model of educational and other public institutions. The Concerned VU Group seek to generate national and international solidarity. We call upon you to organize your own platforms and to coordinate your ideas and actions with other groups to create a critical mass.