The Union General Meeting - Keeping the Commitment

Last Thursday the Guild of Students had its first General Meeting of the year. There are five of these a year and it's a way to democratically decide on 'official' Guild policy and holding elected officers to account. And a way to get a free pint of beer.

I had proposed a motion on the Stop Climate Chaos coalition - basically for the Guild of Students as a whole to support Stop Climate Chaos activities; to ask NUS to affiliate to SCC; and for the Guild to write to local politicians asking for their support for SCC's objectives on climate change.

Wasn't a terribly controversial motion - that said, the evening itself wasn't terribly controversial and could have used a bit of debate - and so after I introduced the motion, with no speakers against it went straight to a vote and was passed unanimously. Hurray!

I also had to speak to object to a number of lapsed policy motions at the GM. These were motions that were passed three years ago by other students and would lapse at this GM if they were not re-voted/debated upon. There were three motions of relevance to Environment and Ethics - the Guild's Zero Waste Policy, its call for Green Electricity at the University; and its call for more Fairtrade at the University.

All these passed unanimously without debate thus remaining a part of Guild policy. If you want to see these motions in full (they're a bit lengthy and ramble a bit) please email me and I'll send you a copy!