Occupiers leave Sam Alex and Engineering Buildings

Student occupiers from the UoM Rent Strike and Manchester Leftist Action groups have now left the Samuel Alexander and Engineering Buildings, buildings they had been occupying since last Wednesday, February 8.

It is understood that the John Owens Building remains occupied, with the students posting to the UoM Rent Strike TikTok, Twitter and Instagram accounts a video of them celebrating 100 hours in the building whilst wearing graduation gowns and masks of the Senior Leadership Team.

This comes after an occupier from the UoM Rent Strike group told the Manchester Media Group on Thursday that they were willing to stay until their demands were met, even if that meant continuing to occupy the building over Easter and not being able to return home for the holidays.

It is not believed that the university has given in to any of the demands set out by the group, which included listening to the demands of the UCU and the Rent Strike, as well as providing students with an additional £1,500 on top of their government maintenance loan in order to keep up with inflation.

The groups claimed that the University “has over £1 billion in reserves” so have the ability to meet their demands. When questioned, an occupier told the Manchester Media Group that “I don’t personally know, to be honest, but this is what I’ve been told from other people”.

It is currently unknown for how long the occupiers in the John Owens building are planning to stay.

The University of Manchester has been contacted for comment.