UK Public sector cuts Feature Archive
Walk-outs for the future of education
24-11-2010 13:14
In Leeds today over one thousand students walked out to demonstrate against the Government spending cuts. The demonstration was friendly with slogans such as, "Education is a right","Fib Dems" and "Fuck Capitalism not students". The students were joined with school children from Allerton Grange, Ilkely Grammar, Lawnswood and more. There is also a video of the demo.
Other UK Demos: Manchester, London [1] [2] [3] [4] , Birmingham, Lancaster
Other news: Student Protest on Campus At Sheffield, Manchester, Southampton University, UWE Under Occupation, Royal Holloway, Student protest in London.
Full article | 6 additions | 16 comments
UK-wide Student Resistance to the Cuts
24-11-2010 10:50
Update: A Second DayX has been called for 30th November. [ 2 | 3 | List of planned DayX2 actions ]
On Wednesday 24 November, tens of thousands of students walked out of their Schools, Colleges and Universities in protest against the cuts and austerity measures, whilst others occupied theirs.
Reports, updates, further action and advice for students in full article. Read on...
Full article | 2 additions | 9 comments
Student anti-cuts demo in London
10-11-2010 21:08
Latest: 24th November – National Student Walkout | Statement from the Sussex Occupation | Fitwatch website suspended for "attempting to pervert the course of justice"
Over 50,000 students traveled to London from around the UK today, Wednesday November 10th. Marchers congregated in Horse Guards Avenue in Central London before marching past Westminster and the Houses of Parliament to Millbank. From there, it was just a short distance to the Tory Headquarters at 30 Millbank, where protesters made their feelings known (Rooftop occupation).
The demonstration had been called by the National Union of Students and the University and Colleges Union, and comes a week after a similar demonstration attended by 25,000 people in Dublin, Ireland (Interviews with students on the Irish march).
Reports and photos from the newswire: Pictures From Student Demo | Millbank Occupied as 50,000 Protest Education Cuts | student cuts demo - pics from parliament square | “Tory Scum, Education is a Right”… | Nick Clegg cancels visit to Oxford | Students march against cuts, occupy Conservative Party HQ | First hand reports from the storming of the Tory Scum HQ | Press Release: Anarchist Federation | Students Show the Way – Honours All Round for the Millbank Protesters | Millbank – what happened, and how can we build on it?
Video: The Siege Of Millbank
Solidarity with the arrested protesters: November 10th Demonstrator Defence Campaign | Statement of solidarity with students arrested | Advice for students fearing arrest
Propaganda: Millbank poster - an attack on one... | Millbank Tiny Minority Poster | No One Likes A Rat - Defend the Millbank Protesters - Poster
Con-Dem Cuts Spark More University Occupations: Manchester Uni Occupation | Sussex Uni occupation tonight!
Related Links: [ Autonomous Students Network | Publish your reports of today's demo | London Indymedia 'Tumblewire']Demos, a banner drop and a takeover - this month’s Anti-Cuts Campaign
01-11-2010 22:49
Oxford's anti-cuts campaign, a network of service users, unions and student groups, rapidly mobilised an escalating succession of protests in the last two weeks against the planned demolition of the welfare state by the ConDem government.
About 200 people rallied during a day of action against the cuts in Bonn Square on 20th Oct, coinciding with the release of the Comprehensive Spending Review. There were speeches and several people gave us their reactions to the cuts. That same morning, activists dropped a banner on Carfax Tower.
The Oxford Education Campaign, a group of hundreds of Oxford and Oxford Brookes students mobilising independently of their student unions, organised over 1000 protesters to march on the day of Vince Cable’s (Government Business Secretary) scheduled visit (28th Oct). Vince Cable embarrassingly cancelled his talk, but the march occurred as planned and police cordons were broken several times.
Within 48 hours of the education march, the local Vodafone shop on Cornmarket was taken over by 30 protesters as part of a national action against the company, in which over 21 shops were occupied around the UK, for its widely reported £6bn tax evasion.
Throughout the month, the Oxford Save Our Services campaign spoke to the BBC, ITV, and others about the prospect of losing their services. SOS also leafleted in central and East Oxford and engaged with the community about the cuts.
Next steps
- The National Union of Students will march in London on 10th Nov. Over 7000 students and supporters from around the country are expected to attend.
- The Oxfordshire Anti-Cuts Alliance has called a meeting on 16th Nov, "United Against the Cuts" at Oxford Town Hall at 7.30pm.
- Nick Clegg will be in town on 17th Nov, to speak at the Oxford Union; if he doesn’t cancel then his presence is likely to galvanise thousands of activists in the region.
[ Bonn Sq rally: 1 | 2 | 3 | demotix ] [ banner drop ] [ education demo: 1 | 2 | 3 elsewhere: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 ]
[ vodafone demo: 1 | 2 | elsewhere ] [ Save Our Services | Oxford Education Campaign | UK Uncut ]
Anti-cuts Actions against Vodafone continue...
01-11-2010 17:46
Once again this weekend there were Anti-cuts occupations of Vodafone high street stores. In Bristol activists picketed and shutdown the vodafone in protest against corporate tax evasion and government cuts [2]. Student protesters once again activated a shut-down of a Vodafone store in Birmingham city centre in larger numbers, coinciding with People and Planet's annual gathering. In Glasgow activists announced that they were occupying the premises as a protest to the £6bn in tax that the company avoided when public services are being slashed to ribbons. There was another successful action in Clumber Street, Nottingham including a critique of the slogans used. In Cambridge over 20 people occupied the Vodafone shop in the Grand Arcade, three arrests were made, later released without charge. Other actions took place in London, Newcastle and Brighton. Get involved in your area.
On the last weekend in October a series of sit-in actions and blockades managed to close down at least 21 Vodafone stores across the UK. Bringing a new generation of protest out onto the High Streets in full view of the public, gathering much support, people could see that direct action was effective and we would not sit back and take the cuts. See upcoming actions and meetings this week.
SchNEWS 744: To The Manor Osbourne
21-10-2010 21:36
Thousands have marched, a government department has been broken into, and a Scottish branch of Lloyds TSB has been occupied by pissed-off pensioners...It must be the (OK, somewhat quiet compared to France) start of the anti-cuts revolt!
Sheffield Protests Against the Cuts
19-10-2010 12:45
On Saturday 23rd October 2010 the Yorkshire and Humber TUC held a regional protest against the cuts outside Sheffield Town Hall. The protest was joined by a march from Sheffield University.
On Wednesday 20th October, there was a protest outside the Town Hall organised by UNISON, the day the Con/Dem government announced "spending cuts of 25 percent and more across most departments" which target people on welfare, rather than the rich. Bob Crow, general secretary of the RMT, described these cuts as "the most brutal assault on public services, jobs and living standards since the 1930's and show that the ConDem government are prepared to force working people to carry the can for an economic crisis cooked up in the boardrooms and on the trading floors. This is all-out class war with its roots firmly planted in the playing fields of Eton."
Links: Rally photos and audio | March photos
Confront the Tory Con in Birmingham
20-09-2010 22:27
On Sunday 3rd October the Tory Party Conference begins in Birmingham. The Right to Work Campaign which is supported by a variety of trade union groups has called a national mobilisation against the conference. An autonomous direct action bloc was soon announced by a group known as No CPC who have posted a comprehensive list of venue targets.
Various possibilities to disrupt fringe events have also been announced, Class War have called for people to cheer their team on at the Tory Party Conference 'pub quiz' taking place in the evening of the mobilisation, and CPC have now announced a Reclaim the Streets Party.
On Tuesday 24th August a delegation from the Right To Work campaign met with West Midlands police to discuss the route of the organised protest march outside the Tory party conference on Sunday 3rd October. West Midlands police stated that they were happy for RtW to march past the conference centre and confirmed that centenary square, the square directly in front of the conference centre, would not be a “sterile zone”. Not surprisingly, on 2nd September the police reneged on the proposed route citing 'security reasons'..
Links: No CPC | RtWC | Fliers & Posters | Transport to mobilisation | Twittter updates
Opposing the cuts in Oxford
17-09-2010 18:16
Opposition to the planned public sector spending cuts is growing across Oxfordshire and beyond.
In early September there was a sit-in protest in Lloyds Bank in central Oxford. Protesters pointed out that the banks are being funded by the public at the expense of our frontline services including heath care, social services, and housing.
A week later, Oxford Save Our Services held a public meeting to start mapping the cuts in Oxfordshire and to start building resistance to them. Around 50 people - including service users and public sector workers whose jobs could be under threat - all spoke about the cuts that were being made. These ranged from closing the GAP homeless project, stopping schools & parks projects, closing care centres, turning off speed cameras, and much more.
There was a passionate speech from Stuart (pictured) who had been to the Oxfordshire County Council 'Big Debate' meeting calling for solidarity amongst all those seeking to oppose the cuts.
Resistance to the cuts is in fairly early stages, but rapidly gathering momentum. Events coming up in the near future include:
23 September 7pm: Town Hall Oxford Trades Council open community meeting for all groups and unions against the cuts.
27 September: Oxford Save Our Services planning meeting. Update: Meeting details.
3 October: Demonstration at the Tory party conference. Coaches going from Oxford.
20 October (day of the Comprehensive Spending Review): National day of action against the cuts.
[ Bank sit-in report ] [ Save Our Services meeting: Report | Photos | Audio ]
[ Oxford Save Our Services | Oxford Right to Work | No Shock Doctrine ]
Nottingham responds to budget
25-06-2010 09:34
On Tuesday June 22nd, ConDem Chancellor George Osborne revealed the contents of the "emergency budget." As expected, this included a pay freeze for public sector workers (except the lowest paid) along with cuts in housing benefit and an increase in VAT.
The SWP-initiated Right to Work campaign called for protests across the country against the budget. These were supported by Unison and, locally, by the Nottinghamshire and Mansfield Trades Council. Trade unionists and others demonstrated outside the Council House from 5.30pm. There were also protests by the PCS (the civil service union) at lunchtime.
On the newswire: Budget protest: Nottingham | No Austerity Budget: Market Square Protest
Previous features: Action against cuts in Nottingham | Protests against county council cuts | Nottingham City Council workers protest job cuts | Credit Crunch Hits Nottingham
Links: Right to Work | Notts Indymedia workers movement topic page
SchNEWS : All That Romains
20-05-2010 21:09
Welcome to the age of austerity. Romania has erupted in protests as harsh measures continue to grow and waves of discontent flood Europe.
Romania's capital, Bucharest, stood still for a day on Wednesday (19th) as ferocious cuts cripple the Romanian populace. The city was at brought to a halt as an estimated 50,000 protesters marched through the streets in the largest of the demonstrations seen since the cuts were announced. Protesters poured in from all over the country to attend, despite police attempts to block the streets to uphold order.
Mayday celebrations across the East Midlands
04-05-2010 17:06
Mayday, International Workers' Day, fell on a Saturday this year, and was celebrated in Nottingham by a march from Victoria Park to Speakers' Corner in the centre of town and back. It was followed by a rally with speakers from local campaigns and music and dance. The theme of this year's event was fighting against the public sector cuts that all of the major parties are planning to bail the country out of the recession. It was attended by over 100 trade unionists, socialists, anarchists and environmentalists.
There was also a rally at Derby Silk Mill on the Saturday, attended by hundreds of trade unionists. The region's biggest Mayday celebrations were held in Chesterfield on bank holiday Monday.
In the run up to Mayday, Nottingham Free School held a discussion on the issues surrounding Mayday, such as the gendered nature of work, critiques of paid work and the workplace as a site of resistance to capitalism. These discussion events are set to continue.
Newswire: Mayday edition of the Nottingham Sparrow | Notts Indypendent: New Nottingham community newsletter | Chesterfield Mayday 2010 | Nottingham Mayday 2010 | Nottingham Free School's May Day Discussion | The Future Of Protest In Nottingham : Whose streets? Our streets!
Previous feature: Whose streets? Our streets?
Previous Mayday coverage: 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2004 | 2003
Links: Chesterfield Mayday | Wikipedia on International Workers' Day
SchNEWS: Crash of the Titans
02-05-2010 15:09
AS PROPOSED IMF SOLUTION SPARKS RESISTANCE...
Greece is further troubled as government officials get ready to announce IMF imposed wage cuts that will resonate across the country’s entire public sector. Emergency demonstrations were held across the country (Thursday 29th April) in protest against the cuts by grass-roots trade unions, leftist and anarchist organisations.
In SchNEWS: 720 | 711 | 662 | 659
Links: IMF on Greece | Greek Indymedia
Full article | 1 addition | 6 comments
Reclaiming Welfare
24-04-2010 21:04
An increasing number of grassroots campaigns and groups around the country have been set up to support unemployed workers and benefit claimants, fight privatisation and resist corporate profiteering from the welfare system. Below is an incomplete overview of some of these groups and what they do.
Related: Corporate Watch on the 'unemployment business' | Mule: Forced labour for Jobseekers | Mule: Welfare Reform: who will it affect? | Plotting and scheming for Welfare not Workfare | Cambridge Unemployed Workers Union founded | UWU Picket of A4E | Sheffield Claimants and Unemployed Workers launch meeting | Unemployed Workers and Claimants Union in Oxford | Unemployed Workers Unions spring up from Salford initiative | Week of Action on ‘Welfare Abolition Bill’, March 7 – 15th | Precarity: New forms of exploitation, new forms of resistance at Beyond ESF
Radford community on the march
22-03-2010 15:19
Saturday 20th March saw over 100 members of the Radford community march from the threatened Radford Unity Complex to Market Square. They were protesting City Council plans to close the building which is currently home to a number of community groups.
The Council says it is saving £140,000 per year by closing the building and says it has a buyer. They have offered the affected groups premises at the closed Douglas Road Primary School. However, Joginder Singh of the Sikh Community and Youth Service said that the new premises are "many times worse" than those they have at the moment and that the groups have been "treated like parasites" by Jon Collins and the City Council.
The groups are angry that they were not consulted about the plans before being served with an eviction notice and that they are not being given an opportunity to buy the building themselves. They are considering taking legal action against the council over the way they have been treated.
Newswire: Interview with Leonie Meikle of Erondu about the Radford Unity Centre | Radford community on the march | March to stop the eviction of community groups from the Radford Unity Complex
Previous features: Protests against county council cuts | Campaign to save Victoria Baths takes fight to the council | Stonebridge City Farm under threat | Community centres under fire
Links: Petition | NCCLOLs on the closure | SCYS | Nottingham Teaching College | Shiefton Youth Group and Supplementary School
Action against cuts in Nottingham
12-03-2010 17:38
On March 8th, Nottingham City Council met to approve the 2010/11 budget. Like many council budgets this included a series of cuts to services, in this case amounting to £18.8 million. Nottingham City Unison called a lunchtime protest outside the Council House to show their opposition. Disabled campaigners blocked the tram to express their anger at the proposals.
Council plans to close Victoria Leisure Centre, which were brought forward to save money, have also faced opposition and their is growing dissent about plans to close libraries in Wilford and Beechdale.
Unison's protest coincided with the first day of a forty-eight hour national strike by members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) over attacks on their redundancy scheme. In Nottingham strikers marched from Castle Meadow to the International Community Centre (ICC) for a rally.
On the newswire: Protest against cuts at city council | PCS strike March 8/9
Previous features: Protests against county council cuts | Nottingham City Council workers protest job cuts | Campaign to save Victoria Baths takes fight to the council | Credit Crunch Hits Nottingham
Links: Unison Nottingham City Branch | Public and Commercial Services Union
Protests against county council cuts
27-02-2010 15:00
In the early hours of February 26th, Nottinghamshire County Council voted to endorse a controversial budget which will see jobs cut, care homes sold off to the private sector and the cost of services for the elderly and disabled increased. Campaigners opposed to the plans rallied in Mansfield and outside County Hall to show their anger at the proposals and council workers are currently being balloted for industrial action (but not a strike) against a related attack on terms and conditions.
The county council's programme of cuts comes in a political climate in which all the main political parties have expressed their belief in the need for cuts to public sectors in light of the economic damage wrought by the banking collapse and subsequent bailout. The Labour-run city council are also planning to cut staff as well as closing Victoria Baths along with libraries in Wilford and Beechdale.
On the newswire: County Hall budget protest: Report | Demo against council cuts: Thursday 25th | Notts council workers rally for jobs
Previous features: Local Government Workers in Notts Join National Strike | Public service workers out to protect pensions
Links: Fair Pay Action Group | GMB Notts General Branch | Notts County Unison
SchNEWS: Greek Fire
25-02-2010 22:05
Greece has once again been rocked by protests, strikes and civil unrest. This time in response to a series of swinging government cutbacks aimed at bringing the country into line with neo-liberal dogma and reducing it's budget deficit. In response to proposed attacks on worker's rights and pensions, virtually the entire country came out on strike on Wednesday. 30,000 marched through Athens and violently clashed with police. There is widespread anger at the governments attempts to deal with the economic crisis by dipping into the pockets of the poor. Marchers in Athens shouted, "No sacrifices! Make the rich pay for the crisis!”
Links:2008 Greek protests – SchNEWS 659 | 662
Indymedia: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4
Occupied London
Campaign to save Victoria Baths takes fight to the council
07-02-2010 13:03
On Saturday February 6th, the Save Victoria Baths campaign held a demo in protest at the council's plans to shut Victoria Leisure Centre on April 1st. The event was well attended and attracted a fair amount of media attention. Although the council seems to have made its decision, campaigners believe the fight is far from over. They will hand over a petition against the closure on Monday February 8th.
The campaign has also announced on its website that users of the Victoria Leisure Centre have formally threatened legal action against the council over its sudden announcement that the centre will be closing on April 1st. The legal action asks the council to withdraw the decision and keep the centre open whilst the planning process is undertaken, echoing the appeals of the campaign. London public law firm, Pierce Glynn are acting on behalf of the users, seeking a judicial review, accusing the council of failing to take into account the fact that no planning application has been submitted, that this process will take at least several months, and failing to take into account the impact this will have on users, especially disabled ones.
On the newswire: Report from Save Victoria Baths demo 7/2/10 | Save Victoria Baths: Interview | Council does the dirty on the Save Victoria Bath Campaign
Previous features: Victoria Baths axed early in city budget | Credit crunch hits Notttingham | Nottingham City Council: Mired in Corruption | Council Under Fire From Campaign To Save Leisure Centre
Links: Save Victoria Baths | Petition | Nottingham City Council LOLs
Victoria Baths axed early in city budget
20-01-2010 18:05
After a long period of silence from the council the Save Victoria Baths campaign have learnt that the authority intend to close Victoria Leisure Centre on 31 March 2010, despite having no approved plans for development and no planning permission to demolish what is already there. The campaign allege that the council intends to relocate staff in February, making it more likely that it will close earlier than then.
Council plans to close Victoria Leisure Centre first emerged in 2008 and generated considerable public opposition. Although campaigners were unable to prevent the closure, they did manage to get the council to promise to keep it open until 2011 and agree to build a (very expensive) new leisure facility on the site. Campaigners are concerned that the council may now go back on both promises leaving the community without a leisure centre.
On the newswire: Council does the dirty on the Save Victoria Bath Campaign | 2008: Victoria Leisure Centre Public Meeting to Oppose Closure | Save Victoria Baths from closure, Demo at the Council House | Council propose to shut Victoria Baths, Sneinton | City Council intends to Close popular leisure facility
Previous features: Credit crunch hits Notttingham | Nottingham City Council: Mired in Corruption | Council Under Fire From Campaign To Save Leisure Centre
Links: Save Victoria Baths | Petition | City council: Budget consultation