UK Public sector cuts Newswire Archive
June 30 Strike - March and Rally
30-06-2011 20:55
On June 30th members of the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL), National Union of Teachers (NUT), Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) and University and Colleges Union (UCU) went on strike in defence of their pensions. There were picket lines across Nottinghamshire and a sizeable march along Mansfield Road.
Pickets appeared outside schools, job centres, the crown and magistrates courts and even the British Geological Survey in Keyworth. Notts Uncut spent the morning visiting pickets, distributing food, by all accounts receiving a warm welcome.
The march formed up at the Forest Recreation Ground outside the old clubhouse. As might be expected, there were placards and banners from all the participating unions. Unison, the Fire Brigades' Union (FBU) and Unite also had banners on the march, as did Notts Uncut and Notts SOS. many people had also brought home-made placards, some of them clearly having required considerable effort to produce.
The march was started just after 11.30am, by a GMB branded town cryer (no I don't know either?). Marchers made their way down the Mansfield Road, pausing regularly to ensure the march didn't spread out unduly.
Numbers on marches are always difficult to estimate. I have heard figures from NUT officials suggesting there were as many as 2,500. This seems on the high side to me. I was told as we were leaving the Forest that the police estimated the crowd at 1,300-1,500 people, so there's no dispute that there were over 1,000 people. This is not to be sniffed at.
At the bottom of Mansfield Road, the march turned right and into Trinity Square for a rally. This it turns out is not an ideal space, the architecture makes it feel isolated from the rest of the city and the speakers ended up standing on the blocks in the middle of the square, as if they were speaking in the round.
There were speakers from the unions involved, Notts SOS and assorted others. While this was going on, protesters were able to visit campaign stalls around the edge of the square and even had the opportunity to throw wet sponges at "David Cameron".
After around half an hour, some marchers moved on to the rally/meeting in the Albert Hall. The rally at Trinity Square continued for a little longer. At that point some people went on to the Albert Hall and others joined Notts Uncut to visit the usual targets. The police were, as at the last Uncut action, expecting them and stationed outside most of the well-known tax dodgers (Vodafone, Primark, HSBC etc.). While I wasn't there, I did hear that there was a minor scuffle with an agitated member of the public on Clumber Street, but it seems that nobody was injured. By the time I made it to the Albert Hall everything there had come to a close.
For Nottingham this was clearly a significant day politically. It is to be hoped that the unions can build on this first day and move forward. Of course, for teachers, the fast approaching summer holidays are a major impediment to action. Nevertheless, with other public sector unions making noises about balloting for action in the autumn, there is a real opportunity to tackle the government's attack on pensions and the wider austerity agenda.
Snatch Squads and other "police tactics"
30-06-2011 19:55
Late reporting from Whitehall and surroundings.
Arrived in Trafalgar Square in the early afternoon, then marched on Whitehall towards Parliament Square. Police were busy directing people where they wanted them to be. Barriers stood in the middle all along Whitehall and police seemed intent in making the march go only on one side of them.
Once in Parliament square, I ended up on the green outside Westminster Abbey. A sound system was on one corner and on another one, a banner with the words “Workers Assembly”. Next to it was a speaker that seemed to welcome anyone who wanted to speak. I could see lots of people with the same model of t-shirt: “Real Democracy Now”, the main demand of what seems to be known as “The Spanish Revolution”. A real assembly seemed to be happening right there. People raised their hands and waved them from time to time (a sign of agreement with what is said at that moment).
On the way back to Trafalgar Square, I saw a small group in the distance, between the Square itself and the McDonalds restaurant, that seemed to be kettled, or in the process of being kettled. Heard reports of snatch squads and seemingly random arrest. People had seen police with “snatch cards” on their hands.
Noticed a police line being formed on one of the side streets. They allowed people to get through the line but at a given point, they stopped allowing anyone through. Before I could figure what was going on, a noise of running came from a few yards back. Three very big guys, bully thugs style, were running very close together. They were carrying a smaller guy between the three of them, clearly against his will. I then realised that the guy being carried in this way had his hands tied up behind his back. He did not have handcuffs, but one of those plastic bands used to hold cables together. His hands were placed in a very ackward and obviously painful position.
Now, these big guys in plain normal clothing carrying this other guy “were” allowed through this police cordon. Then the cordon eased off to allow a van in. After some talking and lots of note-taking by the thuggy guys and uniformed police officers, the guy with his hands on his back was put into the police van.
The incident just described is what is known as “snatch squad arrest”, where police in plain clothes choose one person from the crowd and quickly, by surprise and without any warning or even any word, they immobilise him/her and they quickly take him/her into police custody. I saw another person being taken into a police van in this very same way up in Trafalgar Square too.
Saw another, smaller march also in Trafalgar Square. People dancing to a samba band and with banners about Congo and Sudan marched towards Whitehall. They were escorted and surrounded by police, various big vehicles and other hired workers. Some of the workers picked up traffic cones in front of the march, from one of the big vehicles, leaving them there as the march passed next to them. Other workers put a white tape between the cones, in a way that made the march enclosed by police and by white tape too. Then a last worker removed the tape and put the cones on a last vehicle moving slowly behind the march.
When this small march went on to Whitehall, police had made sure the Strike march was out of the way from the smaller march. So both marches were never mixed up.
June 30th: County Hall Lobby
30-06-2011 19:55
On June 30th, while teachers and civil servants went on strike against attacks on their pensions, Nottinghamshire County Council was meeting to slash the Supporting People and daycare budgets. A small lobby was organised in front of County Hall by Notts County Unison in protest.
Protesters included Unison members, service users and supporters. Leaflets about the cuts and attacks on pensions were distributed to people coming into the building.
There were also speeches through the megaphone. Unfortunately, there didn't seem to be all that many people coming into County Hall to hear them. Possibly they came in through another entrance, or perhaps strike action by teachers had more of an effect than anticipated, forcing staff to take time off to look after kids.
A few Labour councillors wandered out to mouth predictable platitudes before disappearing back inside. The protest was initially overseen by a couple of police officers, but they soon realised that their presence was unnecessary and left.
There was a brief flurry of interest as a photographer from the Post turned up. He left with a not-in-the-least-bit staged line-up shot and a copy of the leaflet. Whether the story will actually make it into the paper remains to be seen.
The protesters hung around for around one and a half hours, with a few supporters drifting in and out, fitting the protest around their work commitments. Shortly before 10am when the meeting was due to start, they drifted off, ultimately headed to the strike march beginning from the Forest Recreation Ground.
At the time of writing, the supporting people cuts have been voted through (after two hours debate according to the council's Twitter feed) with the "modernisation" of daycare currently on the agenda. Almost inevitably, this too will eventually go through.
It is easy to get disheartened when protests seem to fail like this, but this should not be seen as the end. The mass strike today marks the next step in the anti-cuts movement. If this movement can continue to grow it holds the hope that the imposition of austerity on the most vulnerable in society can be stopped and perhaps even reversed.
#J30 Sheffield Rally at the end of the March
30-06-2011 19:52
More photos of the Manchester j30 march
30-06-2011 19:32
All pictures are Creative Commons licensed. Pinkolady would like to be credited where they are used.
Cardiff J30- BHS and Vodafone occupied
30-06-2011 19:07
In solidarity with striking workers today, Cardiff city centre hosted "Busk Against the Cuts", Food not Bombs and 3 seperate UK Uncut actionsCritical Mass 30th June 11
30-06-2011 18:55
Thursday 30th June saw the first attempt to a General Strike in Britain for more than 80 years, although it was primarily a Public Sector workers' strike.
As part of the support for the strike from people who are not necessarily public sector workers, a Critical Mass happened in South London, visiting the picket lines that had been announced and showing support.
We met at about eight in the morning in Burgess Park. About 50 people on bikes set off at about half past eight, with more and more people joining as we biked.
The first drivers showed their solidarity by tooting, and soon we reached Elephant and Castle, where we greeted the picket outside the London College of Communication. After two rounds to the roundabout, the Mass continued towards Brixton, on the way meeting another picket line. We stayed with the workers for a few minutes while the mobile sound system got fixed, and we had music from then on.
Once in Brixton Oval (the public open space where Reclaim Your Food used to give away food every Sunday) we also joined some workers demonstrating there for a few minutes, and then what look like a hundred-strong crowd appeared at the door of Lambeth Town Hall.
After a brief spell up Brixton Hill we headed East again, towards Camberwell and on to New Cross. Up to that point the cyclists had managed to deal with the traffic by doing things like corking (staying static at junctions while the mass passed safely unrammed by cars and bigger vehicles). From New Cross on we had the kind help of Police (seven vans at one point) which made a difference in terms of respect showed by motorists. Amazing what the mere presence of a well-marked police vehicle can do to motorists' behaviour. On the occasions when we lost sight of them and then they appeared behind us again, all yelling at us, insulting and generally threatening behaviour from drivers on four wheels dissapeared. So in that sense their presence had a positive effect except on one occasion when a driver almost knocked off one of the bikers and a police officer just threatened to arrest both the aggressor and the victim.
When the mass arrived outside Deptford Town Hall, at about ten, it joined the demonstration that was taking place there. Lots of flags and a banner of South London Solidarity Federation were the landmark of a brief street party interrupted by the forces of law and order. The joint demonstration became a march towards Deptford and once there, the march and the mass went their own separate ways.
Police did not seem to realise it though, and a line of police on foot started to follow the critical mass. When it was obvious they would not keep up with the bikers, they were picked up – and apparently seven vans were needed for the picking up operation.
Critical Mass then made its way to Whitehall and Parliament Square, where it melted itself in the crowd.
J30 March in Manchester
30-06-2011 18:39
Full article | 2 additions | 1 comment
#J30 Sheffield March Against Cuts
30-06-2011 18:25
#J30 Sheffield Rally at start of March
30-06-2011 16:35
J30: More Photos from Wrexham
30-06-2011 16:22
J30: Photos and Report from Wrexham
30-06-2011 16:13
JCP and Atos Origin superglued shut
30-06-2011 15:55
J30 solidarity action
Last night we superglued the locks to the doors of Job Centre Plus on Canal Street, and also Atos Origin on Stoney Street.
Solidarity to the J30 strikers, unemployed workers, and all those suffering from the severe austerity measures forced upon us by government, which is combined with the corporate greed of private companies who are happy to aid the oppression of the state.
"Let Them Go!"
30-06-2011 15:25
Witness' see black men being stopped and searched.Teacher and lecturers pension cuts
30-06-2011 12:38
j30 Critical Mass
30-06-2011 11:55
Watch live broadcasts from all over London, from the point of view of a cyclist! Follow live broadcasts from the critical mass cyslists who set off early this morning to ride around London to give support and encouragement to public section workers who are striking today. Brixton, Peckham, New Cross are some of the areas they will be passing.
They are now in New Cross:
Watch LIVE broadcasts here: http://bambuser.com/channel/cyclecast
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j30 Critical Mass
30-06-2011 10:32
Watch live broadcasts from a Nokia Phone all over London, from the point of view of a cyclist!Sheffield Trades Council March and Rally Tomorrow
29-06-2011 23:20
Sheffield Trades Council March and Rally 12 noon Peace Gardens/City Hall June 30thReflections on the Edinburgh Unite the Resistance Public Meeting on the 28th: Preparing for a Protracted Battle
29-06-2011 22:55
It shouldn’t come as a surprise that on the 30th of June, 4 major unions are planning to go on strike over plans to slash public sector pension packages. This includes the National Union of Teachers, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers, the University and College Union, and the Public and Commercial Services, and will involve around 750 000 people. In Scotland, this strike is more limited, involving the Public and Commercial Services Union which comprises about 20 000 civil servants. Wanting to know more, I found myself at Edinburgh’s Unite the Resistance Meeting, called by the Right to Work campaign last night.
