There is a tradition of oppositon witni the National Union of Students women's campaign, whose conference takes place this weekend. The refusal of the NUS leadership to allow women to organise autonomously without the loss of funds and status within their students union has women organising a campaign based on their own demands.
Since 1974 NUS women's conferences have consistently voted for the recognition of women's right to close their meetings to men if they wish without loss of funds or status. Equally consistently, the Broad Left-dominated Executive have refused this recognition not even bothering to take this issue to national In recent months, nowever, womer students have been organising to take their demands into the whole of NUS Supporters of the Women's Left Caucus are no longer prepared to see the fight for hived off into a limited campaign - to keep the women For instance, women at a recent NUS for the abortion rights campaign. The recognition that entertainments are not non-political has led women's groups throughout the country to demand representation on social and cultural affairs The Women's Left Caucus provides a focus for socialist women to discuss what kind of campaign is needed within NUS, and how such a campaign can be organised. It does not pose as an alternative to the present NUS women's campaign, but rather seeks to challenge the present leadership by putting forward its own perspectives for the fight against women's oppression.
The support it has won was shown at the NUS Nurseries Conference, where the WLC motion was passed unanimously Only the WLC put forward concrete proposals that did not rely solely on either negotiations or occupations, but advane ed ways in which students could join with other sectors in fighting the Government economic policies wnich are eroding already inadequate nursery facilities Women students who share this perspective are invited to write for informa-