University of Puerto Rico students resume strikes

[Joanne98]

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.

Students at the Río Piedras campus were among 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.

The chancellor of the Río Piedras campus used every means possible to try to stop the students from gathering, including 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.

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.

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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.

http://socialistworker.org/2010/12/10/upr-students-resume-strikes