After heavy budget cuts forced the State University of Rio de Janeiro to stop the operation of its canteen, the withdrawal of scholarships and to outsource its staff, students and teachers alike are in uproar against the worsening of their working and studying conditions. In an act to better organise the protest and to collectively establish the provision of affordable meals to attendees and employees of the university, the universities canteen is now under student occupation since Tuesday last week.
Many students depend on the opportunity to get affordable meals on the universities campus. Nevertheless, the state never obliged the students and teachers demands to reopen the universities canteen that has been closed for a year now. In a call distributed by the students after the canteens occupation, it is emphasized that this is not the result of a mere “lack of funds” or “neglect”, but a conscious decision taken in order to pass on the costs of the crisis to the students and the universities staff. This not only includes the provision of meals on campus grounds, but also a cutback in the transportation between the campuses, affordable accommodation, scholarships, the closure of the libraries, etc.
In the light of this attacks on their conditions by the state, the students declared that, if the state is unwilling to fulfill their demands, they will take their fate into their own hands and will run the services the state denies them by themselves. Their activities were flanked by the teachers decision to go on strike, a decision drawn on the day after the occupation and coming into effect yesterday. Furthermore, through their strike, they are closing the ranks with the universities administrative staff already on strike.
