On Tuesday 6 March the Wee Red Bar hosted ‘Strike Night’, a club night organised by second year students Maisie Caro, Emma Penney and Mohammed El- Koubani, in an effort to show support for striking lecturers and university staff.
Entry was priced at £6, and all proceeds went toward raising money for the UCU Fighting Fund, which aims to financially support strikers. This support can be through means of strike pay and members involved in disputes, where this is appropriate.
In total £767.50 was raised for the UCU Fighting Fund.
Over 100 students from the University of Edinburgh attended the extremely successful event, which had been advertised via word of mouth and social media.
Maisie Caro told The Student: “Being on strike is a difficult time for many members of the university staff. Strikers are not only put under financial strain with the loss of pay, but also the potential for backlash by students whose teaching has been affected.
“Strike Night was organised in response to these issues – both as a fundraiser and a show of support. We wanted to show that students understand that they share the interests of the university tutors, lecturers, researchers and staff.
“After all, their working conditions are our learning conditions”.
Kye Perry, a second year Music Technology student and the resident DJ of popular club night ‘Confidance’, supplied the music for the night. His mix of funk and dance music gave the event a fun and hopeful vibe.
Kye Perry told The Student: “Being involved in Strike Night was a really exciting opportunity and gave ‘Confidance’ some extra exposure.
“The group organising the event were lots of fun to work with and were really satisfied with the money that was raised.”
The event took place during the third week of national strikes over changes to university staff’s pension schemes.
Talks have taken place to try and resolve the dispute, but there are mixed opinions as to their success.
Photo by Maisie Caro.