University staff and students demonstrate at Dam Square, Amsterdam 17 March 2025 (photo: de Socialist ©)

At the time of writing, strikes are still planned at VU, Erasmus University and in Wageningen. It remains unclear whether the Senate will approve the austerity plans. On 14 March, Minister Eppo Bruins advocated in a letter to the Senate for education that is “more focused on contributing to society and less on maximum self-development” and that aims for lower student numbers.

This amounts to education that “better aligns with the labour market”, an argument that has been used for years against funding humanities, which the Telegraaf newspaper calls “fun studies”. The far-right Free Student Party is therefore pleased with the cuts and hopes that “queer-feminism, (...) decolonisation [and] green offices” will disappear.

For academics in the humanities, these cuts feel like a turning point. Even before the cuts, small master’s programmes were being eliminated. Researchers are hit harder by the scrapping of research funds because they make less use of the “third funding stream” from external clients (companies, NGOs and the Dutch state).

Although science and administrative faculties seem to escape the current cuts, staff and students there also suffer from the commercialisation of the university. Subjects like ethics and philosophy of science will also come under pressure, which are important for science studies. Moreover, the positions of all international staff are threatened by the proposed language test which would reduce the number of English-language lessons under the “Internationalisation in Balance” law.

A large proportion of academic researchers indicate that they experience pressure from their clients. Science, law and administrative disciplines will be kept on a tighter leash by their clients. “Socially relevant” then becomes the same as “useful for the state and capital”. Thus, the cuts constitute an attack on the academic freedom of all scientists.

Actions at universities

Even before these actions against the cuts, hundreds of UvA staff united in the FNV went on strike to force their institution to break ties with Israel. The AOb lags behind in terms of support for Palestine and resistance to militarisation, but both the FNV and AOb are fighting against the cuts. They help build local networks for larger actions. But ultimately, a combative movement does not arise because the unions call a strike: building resistance must come from below, through self-organisation in the workplace.

Universities in the Netherlands have never seen such a large-scale strike action. Many lecturers have never taken action before, but at the same time universities were places where resistance against the Israeli genocide blossomed. The struggle at universities is therefore characterised by overcoming uncertainty on one hand and connecting with the radical sections that are already at the forefront, a large part of which are students, on the other.

The current strike movement also builds on isolated examples of resistance we have seen at universities in recent years. For example, on 16 January 2023, a group of students occupied a UvA building demanding that the university stop collaborating with Shell. Educational staff also took action on social safety, such as in Groningen with the Am I Next campaign after Susanne Täuber was dismissed in 2023 for criticising the university. Finally, since 2021, various Casual action groups have emerged against the flexibilisation of contracts.

Due to authoritarian and hierarchical relationships, many academics fear for their jobs if they speak out against management or the board. To overcome this fear, staff must believe they can change things at work with collective power.

The union is you

It is up to activists in higher education to create the networks within which they can convince their colleagues of this through collective struggle, not only against cuts.

A good example of this is Organize the RUG (OtR) in Groningen. They used a self-organisation model introduced by Jane McAlevey in the Organizing for Power course. OtR’s goal when established in 2018 was to democratise the university to improve their working conditions.

The group has weekly ’organising meetings’ where they centrally consult with staff from almost all faculties on how to organise their colleagues. Subsequently, the aim is to build similar networks in each faculty – colleagues who come together on their own initiative to decide what they would like to see changed.

By building a structure that remains after this strike is over, the lessons learned can be passed on – even if they are not exactly the same people organising it. These networks can continue to grow through actions such as the local strike. The open nature of OtR allows it to function as a platform for collaboration between activists focusing on different topics, such as social safety, collective agreement negotiations, or solidarity with Palestine. OtR is therefore a good example of how self-organisation can push the struggle further: it is based on the understanding of shared interests AND collective power of workers.

This idea of collective power differs from that of a group like WOinActie, founded in 2017 against the increasing workload for university lecturers. They led the way in actions on this theme and have built networks in different cities over the years.

WOinActie is the place for more established scientists to become active in higher education. The organisation is useful in terms of awareness and lobbying, but to stop the cuts and democratise the university, collective power is needed.

Broadening against dismantling

The cuts to education are part of the general attack on public services. Fortunately, other groups of workers in the public sector are also resisting the dismantling. For example, hospital staff threatened to strike in April against their deteriorating working conditions. Instead of cuts, investments are needed in people’s education and welfare. The money needed for this is now being invested in further militarisation at Trump’s insistence.

Moreover, the damage will not be limited to this first wave of cuts. Trump’s battering ram policy serves as an example for the far right worldwide. Under pressure from Trump’s blackmail politics, Columbia University is restricting academic research and education on the Middle East, militarising the campus to prevent protest, and threatening to deport student activist Mahmoud Khalil. Yesilgöz, Wilders and Baudet will look at this with envy.

The struggle in higher education is part of the general defence of public services against the dismantling policy. Broadening the actions is therefore of great importance. This requires a broader vision from the educational staff taking action. The question is not only whether this series of cuts can be stopped, but what kind of workplace and society they would like to see.

The call “don’t do it” from some organisers of the strikes falls short by failing to make the connection with other sectors and not proposing a concrete alternative to the austerity policy. The actions in higher education have only just begun; now is the time for cross-pollination from the various fields of struggle under the slogan “people over profit!”

*Adapted from Socialisme.nu.*