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Let's be friendsCardiff say Ditch Your Dirty Banking Habits
Cardiff Uni People & Planet have launched a new campaign centred around the banking habits of their students union and university.
Cardiff Uni People & Planet held a stall to raise awareness of unethical banks
Cardiff Uni People & Planet have launched a new campaign centred around the banking habits of their students union and university.
They launched the campaign with a stall outside their students union and are calling on fellow students to switch banks to more ethical alternatives such as the Co Operative Bank or Nationwide who have better environmental, social and human rights policies than most of the other high street banks. Students are being encouraged to sign action cards to demand the union and the university follow their lead and put their money where their mouth is.
Cardiff’s Students Union bank with Lloyds who have been accused by the Treasury of disguising commercial loans as investments to avoid paying taxes and are also investors in the arms trade. Cardiff University banks with the Co Operative but invests heavily in Barclays who are one of the top 10 brands profiting from the Canadian tar sands and also invest heavily in the arms trade.
The launch of the campaign follows a demonstration by People & Planet, Cardiff Students Against War and Cardiff University Green Party last semester where they highlighted the university’s investment in Barclays and the bank’s involvement in the arms trade and Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe.
Alice Hemming is one of the group organisers: “We think that switching banks to a more ethical alternative is something easy and positive that we can all do. We want to encourage the university and the union to follow our lead and switch banks too”.
Larissa Sztymiak is a second year history and politics student at Cardiff: “I didn’t realise how easy it was to switch my account. I thought that because I was in my overdraft I wouldn’t be able to but it can be transferred. I’m glad to find an easy and positive way to change things”.
The group aims to have a discussion at student council followed by a motion the meeting after to get the union to support their campaign. They then want to work with the union to put pressure on the university.
