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By Socialist Appeal
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Thursday, 01 December 2011 |
Although a member of UNISON, I wasn't balloted for action as I’m not in the
pension scheme, working for a small private company inside a public service, so
had to report for work at the Probation office I work at in Newcastle as normal
today. All three admin staff were at work as they weren't members of a union so
I was expecting to go into a quiet office to do some admin of my own too and
nothing else. The Probation staff aren’t normally a militant bunch and
hadn’t been discussing, as far as I was aware, any particular actions for the
day, so it came as a pleasant surprise to find 4 out of 9 of them
manning/womaning a picket line outside at 9am. Photo - http://www.facebook.com/#!/photo.php?fbid=2671259870041&set=a.2671259830040.144158.1512475833&type=1&theater
This gave me the opportunity not to cross the line and stay out with them. Only
one officer had gone into work (none union) while one other, also not in NAPO,
had turned away in solidarity. 2 more turned up and stayed out with their
comrades and one more was on the sick. The one on the sick would have been
out as he had expressed such a view before hand. So, although this is a
relatively small workplace it was almost 100% solid. Reports were being
txt’d and phoned over from other offices in the region and the news came across
that the situation there was being mirrored in many other offices too.
What was most striking (pardon the pun) was the change in outlook of the
Probation officers. It was as though a weight had been lifted from their
shoulders. One woman stated that “This is brilliant! I can’t believe we’ve done
it!” and another said she felt so proud of her work mates and that this was only
the beginning of more battles to come. Another officer was very interested in
the political aspects of the struggle stating he was in greater and greater
conflict with his Tory parents and right wing friends etc and wanted to hear
more Marxist explanations for the crisis. I think he needs to read the paper
now!
On to the rally.
I stood outside the law courts on Newcastle Quayside where the march was
due to pass, and talked to the PCS and NAPO pickets. I met an older NAPO member
who help to get me introduced to the 10-12 staff out side the building. The
strike there had been quite solid with only a few admin going in. All were
in good determined mood. I met a young lad who had come down for the giant
DWP office at Longbenton (employs 10,000 workers, majority out) who was
extremely militant from a TU perspective. Very enthusiastic about fighting
the Tories and for further action and longer strikes. Have acquired contact info
for further discussions. Didn’t have enough money for a paper but will send him
links to the website etc. The march came passed at approx. 11:30 (here's
my camera footage of it’s approach ( watch-v=-5sXxkereH4&feature=share)
which was a tremendous sight. As the march approaches the end can still not be
seen under the Tyne bridge in the background. The police estimate 8,500 but
there really must have been a good few thousand more. The rally itself had
the usual gamut of speakers and music etc. Our comrades played a solid
role and sold over 45 papers.
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