FT-CI

Great Britain

Thousands against the cuts

30/10/2012

By Alejandra Ríos

On Saturday, October 20th, more than 150,000 people took to the streets of central London, and more than 20,000 marched in Glasgow (Scotland) and Belfast (Northern Ireland), to protest against the austerity plan of the Conservative and Liberal Democratic Parties’ coalition government. Under a typically grey sky, the first contingents began to gather at mid-morning. Delegations of public sector, healthcare and transport workers and teachers arrived in buses and trains from different parts of the country to assemble at Embankment Station, the march’s point of departure.

The march began at noon, but the delegations had to wait for more than 2 hours to start – an indication that the participation was high. The protest was called by the TUC (Trade Union Confederation), with the slogan “For a Future That Works.” After the massive protest on March 26th, 2011, where half a million people went out to the streets, and the November 30, 2011 “near” general strike of public sector employees against the attack on pensions, there are plenty of signs of the atmosphere of opposition to the cuts that are being experienced among the workers, young people, and the groups most afflicted by the attacks. The Occupy the Streets movement, with a limited impact, but with a big media impact and a symbolic value among activists, had its first birthday in the streets. Although almost no one mentions it any longer, the uprising of unemployed young people in the poor areas of the country was another sign of how the capitalist crisis is hitting.

Since the coalition government took office, there have been shutdowns of public services, an increase in the retirement age, cutbacks in jobs, a lack of jobs for young people (who are “neither working nor studying”), an increase in university tuition, cuts in benefits, etc. However, the union leaderships are only calling marches, without calling for concrete actions of struggle that will be on a par with the attacks, and, among their solutions, they are proposing Keynesian measures to stimulate the economy, to fight unemployment and the crisis, next to a model tax on the rich, known as a Robin Hood tax, that turns into a voice in the void, since only the workers, through their own organization, are the ones who can propose an alternative, in defense of their own interests. In the October 20 march, there was a high presence of rank and file workers from a broad spectrum of unions: UNISON (public-sector workers, healthcare), UNITE (general, cleaning, maintenance), RMT (transport), PCS (government departments), CWU (communications), UCU and NUT (university and primary-school teachers); the presence of electricians’ unions (recently in struggle) was obvious, and strong participation by young people and university and secondary students. On the placards, one could read: “We won’t pay for the crisis!”, “A future for everyone”, “No cuts". There were also signs asking for the calling of a general strike, a proposal that has begun to be discussed more among activists in workplaces and in the collectives and networks against the austerity measures. Against this backdrop, the groups of union leaders on the left of the Labour Party – which is the historic leadership of the union movement – and, owing to pressure from the rank and file, have called on the executive of the TUC to set a date for the general strike. By press time for this edition, the UNITE union, one of the biggest in the country, that brings together groups with uncertain employment, that brought more than 10,000 workers to the protest, the RMT and the PCS, have declared themselves in favor of the general strike. This appeal, that, for now, is “wishful thinking", could begin to show that Great Britain is approaching her neighbors on the other side of the Channel, although the situation is far behind that in Spain, Portugal and Greece – since, regardless of the soundness of the states’ economies, the austerity measures to confront the crisis are the common denominator.

Thousands of young students, who know that an uncertain future is awaiting them, although they will get a degree, joined the march. Some showed up with masks of Cameron (the Prime Minister) with a clown’s nose, others with masks of the detested Education Minister, many of them expressing their solidarity with the workers and unity in the struggles. In a real fighting spirit, one could read on the signs, “This is a government of and for the rich”, “What they should cut is Osborne’s neck” (Chancellor of the Exchequer), “We have come out to the street, because they are cutting back basic services, while they bail out the banks", “Tax the rich.”

Along the route of the march, young people from “UK Uncut”, the collective against the cutbacks, organized sudden occupations in stores of the tax-dodging chains, like Boots pharmacies, Top Shop fashions, and Starbucks cafes. Right at the end of the march, the network Disabled people against the cuts – a group that has been the target of brutal attacks – organized street blockades. After more than four hours of a loud and lively march, we arrived at Hyde Park, in the center of London, where the final rally was convoked. The speakers were diverse, from union leaders to the leader of the opposition Labour Party, who was jeered by some. During the rally, the demonstrators cheered when one of the union leaders called for the general strike, and the willingness to go on strike was approved by a show of hands. It is necessary to take this expression, made in a central London park on a Saturday afternoon, to the workplaces, so that it can become a concrete action, that ends by imposing a plan of struggle that can bring down this government of the rich. A good date would be to make the strike coincide with the call for a strike on November 14 in several European countries. It is already clear that austerity is not working....

October 24, 2012

Related articles

No hay comentarios a esta nota

Newspaper

  • PTS (Argentina)

  • Actualidad Nacional

    MTS (México)

  • EDITORIAL

    LTS (Venezuela)

  • DOSSIER : Leur démocratie et la nôtre

    CCR NPA (Francia)

  • ContraCorriente Nro42 Suplemento Especial

    Clase contra Clase (Estado Español)

  • Movimento Operário

    MRT (Brasil)

  • LOR-CI (Bolivia) Bolivia Liga Obrera Revolucionaria - Cuarta Internacional Palabra Obrera Abril-Mayo Año 2014 

Ante la entrega de nuestros sindicatos al gobierno

1° de Mayo

Reagrupar y defender la independencia política de los trabajadores Abril-Mayo de 2014 Por derecha y por izquierda

La proimperialista Ley Minera del MAS en la picota

    LOR-CI (Bolivia)

  • PTR (Chile) chile Partido de Trabajadores Revolucionarios Clase contra Clase 

En las recientes elecciones presidenciales, Bachelet alcanzó el 47% de los votos, y Matthei el 25%: deberán pasar a segunda vuelta. La participación electoral fue de solo el 50%. La votación de Bachelet, representa apenas el 22% del total de votantes. 

¿Pero se podrá avanzar en las reformas (cosméticas) anunciadas en su programa? Y en caso de poder hacerlo, ¿serán tales como se esperan en “la calle”? Editorial El Gobierno, el Parlamento y la calle

    PTR (Chile)

  • RIO (Alemania) RIO (Alemania) Revolutionäre Internationalistische Organisation Klasse gegen Klasse 

Nieder mit der EU des Kapitals!

Die Europäische Union präsentiert sich als Vereinigung Europas. Doch diese imperialistische Allianz hilft dem deutschen Kapital, andere Teile Europas und der Welt zu unterwerfen. MarxistInnen kämpfen für die Vereinigten Sozialistischen Staaten von Europa! 

Widerstand im Spanischen Staat 

Am 15. Mai 2011 begannen Jugendliche im Spanischen Staat, öffentliche Plätze zu besetzen. Drei Jahre später, am 22. März 2014, demonstrierten Hunderttausende in Madrid. Was hat sich in diesen drei Jahren verändert? Editorial Nieder mit der EU des Kapitals!

    RIO (Alemania)

  • Liga de la Revolución Socialista (LRS - Costa Rica) Costa Rica LRS En Clave Revolucionaria Noviembre Año 2013 N° 25 

Los cuatro años de gobierno de Laura Chinchilla han estado marcados por la retórica “nacionalista” en relación a Nicaragua: en la primera parte de su mandato prácticamente todo su “plan de gobierno” se centró en la “defensa” de la llamada Isla Calero, para posteriormente, en la etapa final de su administración, centrar su discurso en la “defensa” del conjunto de la provincia de Guanacaste que reclama el gobierno de Daniel Ortega como propia. Solo los abundantes escándalos de corrupción, relacionados con la Autopista San José-Caldera, los casos de ministros que no pagaban impuestos, así como el robo a mansalva durante los trabajos de construcción de la Trocha Fronteriza 1856 le pusieron límite a la retórica del equipo de gobierno, que claramente apostó a rivalizar con el vecino país del norte para encubrir sus negocios al amparo del Estado. martes, 19 de noviembre de 2013 Chovinismo y militarismo en Costa Rica bajo el paraguas del conflicto fronterizo con Nicaragua

    Liga de la Revolución Socialista (LRS - Costa Rica)

  • Grupo de la FT-CI (Uruguay) Uruguay Grupo de la FT-CI Estrategia Revolucionaria 

El año que termina estuvo signado por la mayor conflictividad laboral en más de 15 años. Si bien finalmente la mayoría de los grupos en la negociación salarial parecen llegar a un acuerdo (aún falta cerrar metalúrgicos y otros menos importantes), los mismos son un buen final para el gobierno, ya que, gracias a sus maniobras (y las de la burocracia sindical) pudieron encausar la discusión dentro de los marcos del tope salarial estipulado por el Poder Ejecutivo, utilizando la movilización controlada en los marcos salariales como factor de presión ante las patronales más duras que pujaban por el “0%” de aumento. Entre la lucha de clases, la represión, y las discusiones de los de arriba Construyamos una alternativa revolucionaria para los trabajadores y la juventud

    Grupo de la FT-CI (Uruguay)