SU21 - Josh Murray for Welfare Officer
My name is Josh Murray and I’m a final year Politics student seeking your vote for Welfare Officer.
I have spent this pandemic as a care worker in a care home, where I was involved in a campaign to unionise my workplace and fight for a living wage for my fellow key workers. I ended up paying the price for this idea when I lost my job. I couldn’t stand idly by whilst colleagues were subject to poverty wages whilst working on the frontline battling this deadly pandemic. Some of my colleagues couldn’t even afford to buy groceries despite working a crucial front-line job.
Working class people, like students, have been treated shamefully by this unjust system. I’ve seen students scapegoated for spreading coronavirus, whilst being ripped off and failed by this university. I want to be a Welfare Officer who tackles this pandemic, radically overhauls our mental health services, and stands up to dodgy landlords.
We need radical solutions to tackle this pandemic. I will ensure that all students are provided same-day Covid testing at their homes or on campus, whilst introducing lateral flow testing for our placement students, ensuring that they are delivered multiple tests which can be self-administered. Until we’re all vaccinated, accessible testing is key to ensuring that we stop the spread of coronavirus and return to normal as soon as possible!
I will also ensure that all healthcare products, including masks, sanitiser, and period products are delivered to students free of charge.
Students need more than a one-off £500 payment; I will campaign to increase this and ensure that all students are given this financial support. I will fight for our placement heroes, who have been battling this pandemic whilst not getting paid. They deserve a £10.50 per-hour living wage!
In these exceptional times, our students need special consideration to ensure that their studies don’t suffer from this pandemic. I will fight to end the 40 per cent caps on resits and end late penalties for the duration of this pandemic. Students have lost enough from this pandemic, we don’t deserve to lose our degrees from this too.
The mental health services at Queen’s are a disgrace on an institution which has plenty to spare investing money in the fossil fuels industry.
Having lost a number of close relatives in this pandemic, I understand through my own experience how difficult life can be. There were times after the death of loved ones where I would simply stay in my flat and not talk to anyone, and in those moments when I knew I needed help, Queen’s services always felt far away. We need a radical overhaul of our mental health services.
I will introduce drop-in counselling services both online and offline where possible, as well as introducing on-site counselling services at all of our Queen’s accommodation sites. I will also establish specialised support networks to help students with specific mental illnesses such as grief or addiction.
Radical overhaul has been promised before by our Students’ Union. It's now time to make good on those promises and turn the rhetoric into action.
If elected, I will take on dodgy landlords and letting agencies. If elected, I will fight for a ban on evictions until at least 2022. No student should be forced out of their house during a pandemic!
I will also fight to ensure that students have the ability to opt-out early from housing contracts, in the event where they have to move home. I will also ensure that there are no rent increases in Elms, whilst strongly campaigning against letting agencies and landlords who attempt to increase rent during this pandemic.
Through this office, I will campaign for proper enforcement of penalties against landlords who refuse to fox issues such as mould or faulty appliances in their properties. I will also fight to ensure that all illegal letting fees and illegally-held deposits are refunded to tenants.
My pitch to you is simple. I have been on the front line in this pandemic and have seen the injustices of this system first-hand. Elect me and I will stand up for you, tackle this pandemic, and radically overhaul our mental health services.
To see all the candidates running for this position, visit the QUB SU Website.