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#UFSupdate: Bloemfontein Campus registration process to continue on Monday 27 January 2020

23 January 2020 | Story Lacea Loader

Update: 26 January 2020
Bloemfontein Campus registration process to continue on Monday 27 January 2020

The registration process for students on the Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State (UFS) will continue on Monday 27 January 2020 as per the registration programme.

First-year students who have not registered must refer to their email, the university’s self-service portal, and the Call Centre (051 401 9666) for information. Senior students can visit registration venues on campus if they require academic advice.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

Update: 24 January 2020
Bloemfontein Campus registration process not to continue the afternoon of Friday 24 January 2020

The first-year registration process on the Bloemfontein Campus will not continue after 13:00 today (Friday 24 January 2020), but will resume on Monday 27 January 2020.

This decision taken by the executive management of the university comes after a number of students disrupted the registration process this morning and prevented first-year students to enter registration venues.

Constant engagements with the Institutional Student Representative Council (ISRC) and the Student Representative Council (SRC) of the Bloemfontein Campus have taken place since the beginning of the year regarding matters of concern to students, and the executive management will continue to do so. The university management is disappointed with this morning’s disruptive behaviour led by the Bloemfontein Campus SRC, despite these regular engagements.

The situation on the campus is being closely monitored by the university’s Protection Services and the South African Police Service.

Released by:
Lacea Loader (Director: Communication and Marketing)
Telephone: +27 51 401 2584 | +27 83 645 2454
Email: news@ufs.ac.za | loaderl@ufs.ac.za
Fax: +27 51 444 6393

News Archive

Race, technology, and maritime labour in the 19th century

2016-06-23

Prof John T. Grider

“When employers
impose
worker identity,
it creates problems.”

What does identity mean to people today, and how is it formed? Religion, politics, race, ethnicity, and gender make up individual and community identity. However, Prof John Grider (University of Wisconsin – La Crosse) is of the opinion that employment moulds our identity, since we spend so much time on the job.

Prof Grider joined the Institute for Reconciliation and Social Justice (IRSJ) on the Bloemfontein and Qwaqwa Campuses to discuss his research on the maritime industry, published in his book, Foreign Voyage - Pacific Maritime Labour Identity: 1840 to 1890. “When employers impose worker identity, it creates problems,” he said. Particularly, this “creates instability in communities, and a vulnerability and insecurity amongst the employees”.

To illustrate his point, Prof Grider expanded on the history of 19th-century Atlantic sailors, a highly-skilled workforce, who failed to adapt to changes in their labour environment. Initially, the sea-faring community was very diverse racially. However, as the Pacific, and particularly Asian, marine community gained precedence, this tide turned to such an extent that, in 1886, the Atlantic sailors formed their own Coastal Seamen’s Union in San Francisco, causing a split between Asian and non-Asian sailors. Atlantic sailors had failed to integrate with the new technology of the day (steam power), nor had they accepted the demographic changes that flooded their community rapidly with cheap labour from Chinese shores.

Prof Grider highlighted the need to maintain an adaptable mentality in the ever- and rapidly-changing labour world, since division amongst workers could lead only to further exploitation of the workforce.

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