UCU/NUT protest in london today
rikkiindymedia(At)gmail[dot]com (rikki) | 28.03.2012 22:55 | Public sector cuts | London
several thousand lecturers and teachers were supported by many students and a delegation from the PCS today on a protest march across london to the department for education in victoria. they are highlighting pension changes which will mena higher payments and much later retirement.
visteon protest at downing street
protest fills whitehall
john mcdonnell MP on the march
great banners
huge inflatable
protest art
liaison officers sniffing around
gail cartmile (unite)
crowd fills street
mark serwotka (PCS)
liam burns (NUS)
kathy taylor (UCU)
christine bowler (NUT)
click on image for larger version. 'some rights reserved' - free for credited non-commercial use, otherwise contact author for permission
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thousands gathered in malet street this morning for the london march against pension changes. jeremy corbyn mp joined several speakers at the start of the march.
the teachers had raided their arts and crafts cupboards big time, and created a huge floating inflatable model of a vice crushing a pound sign, which headed the march down to whitehall, past downing street and parliament, and on to the department of education.
police estimated 6,500 participants, with the organisers claiming a couple of thousand more. policing was fairly low key, although the education activist network bloc had extra attention, and police rolled out their "baby-blue" tabarded "liaison officers" (most of whom are actually intelligence officers).
outside downing street they were cheered on by ex-visteon workers who were holding their own protest about pension cuts and a massive corporate fraud perpetrated by ford. www.visteonpensionactiongroup.co.uk
as thousands flooded into the small street outside the education dept, they listened to speeches from gail cartmail (unite), john mcdonnell (MP), mark serwotka (PCS), liam burns (NUS), cathy taylor (UCU), and christine blower, (NUT).
there were calls for national action, and a general strike, and liam spoke about how the pension age was going up so fast that current student teachers may have to work well into their 70s. the myth that cuts were necessary was constantly challenged, with much blame laid on the bankers who have got away with continued massive bonuses while the rest of us face cuts and "austerity measures".
the protest dispersed around 1.30.
rikkiindymedia(At)gmail[dot]com (rikki)
Original article on IMC London:
http://london.indymedia.org/articles/11969