The Graduate Students’ Union has shot down a proposal to formally divest from Trinity College Dublin Students’ Union (TCDSU) after a second vote, with uncertainty surrounding the voting process at the union’s EGM this evening.
When voting ended for the original motion to divest, it appeared that it had lost by two votes, but GSU vice president Abhisweta Bhattacharjee, who was chairing the meeting, said that it was a tie and as chair had the casting vote.
She later said that it had come to her attention that the vote was “not a clear one” and that members would vote again. By then, there were around 255 people on the Zoom call, down from around over 500 at the start of the meeting.
Bhattacharjee sent the voting link into the Zoom chat box, but there was no way of verifying whether those with the link were in fact GSU members.
The chat box was otherwise disabled for those on the call. Attendees who wanted to speak did so by writing short messages on paper and holding them up to their cameras. Several protested the decision to read out the entire new constitution section by section. Others wrote messages on the slides that were being presented by GSU Vice President Abhisweta Bhattacharjee.
In response to concerns that anyone can vote on the motions, Bhattacharjee said that there should be no one else in attendance at the meeting apart from members of the GSU.
Speaking against the motion, the union’s research officer Serena Foo said: “The GSU have not been able to prove that they can stand on their own two feet efficiently.”
Speaking in favour of the motion, Mark Beirne said the proposed divestment was not about creating an “acrimonious” relationship with TCDSU, but would ensure “the independence of the GSU” and provide “clarity on who represents us”.
The amendments that were passed during the meeting include a major overhaul of the constitution. However, one of the most contentious amendments relating to the constitution did not receive a two-thirds majority, as specified by the constitution.
Two of the most controversial parts of the amendment – one which changed the procedure for removing members of the executive committee and another to limit the focus of elected members to their mandated issue or cohort – were then voted down in a subsequent motion at the end of the meeting. However, it did not receive a two-thirds majority.
The GSU’s old constitution states that it can be amended only with the support of “not less than two-thirds of the members of the Union present and voting”. The new constitution, which was passed tonight, requires the support of at least half of the members present and voting. However, the part of the constitution that reduces the necessary support to a simple majority did not pass by a two-thirds majority. It was, nevertheless, accepted as passed.
Multiple members at the meeting called the validity of the votes into question, since there was no verification process to ensure that those voting with the link provided were actually GSU members.
