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Britain
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Pamphlet: What We Stand ForLatest International NewsWellred BooksThis month we recommend... Order from Socialist Appeal Fighting Fund appeal 2012
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The constant excuse of Cameron and the government for
attacking public sector pensions is that workers in the private sector do not
have access to final salary pensions but have to rely instead on the
fluctuations of the money markets to provide the pension funds with enough
income to give to its members a miserly pension. But it was not so long ago
that the majority of private sector workers had the opportunity to enrol in
final salary schemes. It was only after 1998 that schemes started to close to
new members so that today only 15% of private sector workers are covered by
final salary schemes.
Well if ever there is a place in England that isn’t
revolutionary or willing for workers action you might think it would be Bury St
Edmunds – or so you might think. Bury is a town that is typically seen as
bourgeoisie and reactionary with quaint villages surrounding it which keep to
themselves. The 30th however saw something that has not
entered the consciousness of the people of Bury (after discussion with locals)
ever. By this of course I’m talking about the mass strike action. As the UNISON rep for West Suffolk College I was able to
draw upon my own reflections of the day and discuss with others why this was
necessary.
There were unprecedented scenes in Birmingham on N30 after the
Tory-Lib-Dem coalition that runs Birmingham City Council tried to ban
the planned TUC protest march.
On
the day it turned out to be the biggest trade union demonstration in
Coventry since the 1970s. They came in their hundreds from all parts of
the city and from all public sector trade unions as well as from trade
unions that were not on strike that day - the FBU was well represented.
By the time of the rally at the end of the march through Coventry city
centre some 2,500 trade unionists and their families were crammed into
the area known as Speakers Corner opposite the Council building.
One of the biggest protest marches held on Nov 30 was in London with thousands of workers and students joining feeder demonstrations from various parts of the capital. These merged with the main protest through Central London from Midday - official estimates put the number on the march at over 20,000.
800 public sector workers marched through Barnsley yesterday - and an estimated 4,000 did the same in Sheffield.
Around a thousand trade unionists marched thru the centre of Chelmsford in Essex in what must have been the largest such protest since the days of the Peasant Revolt!
