Students vote to overturn Bacardi and Nestle boycotts

Warwick students who took part in the All-Student Meeting have voted to overturn the Barcardi and Nestle Boycotts, but will still boycott Arms Companies.

The results of last week’s All-Student Meeting are in, with the majority of the boycotts being overturned. The 1092 students who voted chose to vote for the new policies, Cryfield Bus Stop, Seminar Sizes, Accommodation Prices and Humanities Building motions, which all were passed.

This term’s All Student Meeting took place last Monday evening in the Atrium, with debate on 9 different topics. Voting on the motions was then carried out online via the SU website.

Quorum was set at 236 votes – one percent of the student population – and each motion received at least three times this number.

The Barcadi Boycott failed, and Warwick SU will no longer boycott Bacardi. There were 271 votes for, 422 votes against and 141 abstentions.

The Oil Companies Boycott motion failed, with 324 votes for and 389 votes against. The SU will no longer boycott Oil Companies.

Warwick SU will continue to boycott BAE Systems, as a result of the passing of the Arms Company Boycott, but sports clubs and societies are now free to seek sponsorship from the company if they wish. The motion failed with 323 votes for, and 379 votes against, and 169 abstentions.

Warwick SU will continue to boycott arms companies as the boycott is carried with 422 votes for and 325 against. There were 121 abstentions.

The Nestle motion failed to carry, and the SU will no longer boycott the company. The motion passed with 372 votes for and 401 votes against, with 135 abstentions.

The Cryfield Bus Stop motion passed, and Warwick SU will speak to the University to discuss the possibility of an extra bus stop. The motion passed with 550 votes for, 183 votes against and 143 abstentions.

The Accommodation Rent Rises motion passed with 724 votes for and 93 against, and 78 abstentions. It will mandate SU officers to lobby the University for no rises more than RPI plus two percent.

The Seminar Sizes motion was also passed, with 653 votes for, 131 votes against and 126 abstentions. It will mean that the SU will lobby the University to encourage no seminar sizes to be larger than 16 students.

The motion to mandate officers to look into speaking with the University about the possibility of investment into a new humanities building passed, with 652 votes for, 186 votes against and 123 abstentions.

Cosmo March, Union Democracy and Development Officer, said he was pleased with “completely smashing quorum”.

“This is a lot more representative of campus, as opposed to the general meeting system where it was just those students who could commit the time,” Mr March said. “This is an opportunity for students who aren’t necessarily as engaged in the democratic process to be democratically engaged.”

Some have criticised the All-Students Meeting as only around 60 students turned up to discuss the motions.

“I’m happy with the amount of people that were there,” Mr March continued. “I don’t have any worries about not meeting quorum in the future… this shows that people do care.”

Check the Boar next week for more details on this story.