Showing posts with label Jarrow March 2011. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jarrow March 2011. Show all posts
Friday, 11 November 2011
Wednesday, 9 November 2011
Thousands mark end of Jarrow March
On Saturday 3,000 joined the Jarrow marchers in London to celebrate the end of the 330 mile march. There was overwhelming support from the crowd who had travelled from all over the country. Coaches of workers, students, pensioners and unemployed people arrived at Embankment. We were even joined by 106 year old Hetty Bower who had welcomed the original marchers when they arrived in London 75 years ago. Hundreds clapped and cheered the lively demonstration into Trafalgar Sq. Trade unionists, campaigners and marchers supported the marchers from the platform of the rallies.
The Jarrow marchers would like to thank everyone who has helped make the march a success and supported the march in anyway. The march is over but the fightback against the Con-Dems and their cuts has only just begun. We hope to see you all at the Youth Fight for Jobs meetings around the country over the next few weeks and on the picket lines and demonstrations to support the strikes on 30 November.
Thursday, 3 November 2011
Jarrow 2011 Demonstration - Saturday 5 November, 12 noon
The Jarrow marchers have been marching for 5 weeks against youth unemployment.
WE WANT THE GOVERNMENT TO
- Create jobs
- Bring back EMA & scrap uni fees
- Save youth services
- Scrap workfare
- Build affordable housing
Saturday 5 November, 12 noon @ Embankment, marching toTrafalgar Square
Speakers will include:
Matt Wrack FBU General Secretary
Bob Crow RMT General Secretary
Chris Baugh, PCS Assistant General Secretary
Bob Crow RMT General Secretary
Chris Baugh, PCS Assistant General Secretary
Paul Murphy MEP Socialist Party Ireland
Lizi Gray Great-grandaughter of 1936 marcher
Stephen Hepburn MP for Jarrow
US Occupy Wall Street Activist
Jarrow marchers
Day-Mer Youth
Socialist Party
Young Deacon performing his rap about the riots called ‘Failed by the System’
Ed Marsh NUS
London Slutwalk Activist
Maddy Carty performing her track ‘CONDEMn AGE’
Dennis Skinner MP for Bolsover
+ More!
Lizi Gray Great-grandaughter of 1936 marcher
Stephen Hepburn MP for Jarrow
US Occupy Wall Street Activist
Jarrow marchers
Day-Mer Youth
Socialist Party
Young Deacon performing his rap about the riots called ‘Failed by the System’
Ed Marsh NUS
London Slutwalk Activist
Maddy Carty performing her track ‘CONDEMn AGE’
Dennis Skinner MP for Bolsover
+ More!
Transport from Bristol is £5 with coaches leaving From Anchor Broad, (opposite @Bristol) at 8.30am. Contact Tom Baldwin for more info on 07986951527
Visit www.jarrowmarch11.com/5-nov-march-details
Visit www.jarrowmarch11.com/5-nov-march-details
Saturday, 22 October 2011
Jarrow March 2011 Events - Marchers visiting Bristol this weekend
As has been covered on this blog, Youth Fight for Jobs have organised a recreation of the Jarrow Crusade of 75 years ago, marching from Tyneside to London to highlight the issues of youth unemployment and education cuts, including the removal of the EMA and the trebling of university tuition fees. This march has got a lot of national press coverage, including an endorsement from The Fonz on the One Show (available to watch here).
Jarrow marchers are visiting Bristol this weekend and there are several events organised while they are here. Please come along to show your support for an event that is making the ConDem government squirm by proving that youth unemployment cannot be ignored. We won't have a lost generation!
Fundraising Gig
Sunday 23rd Oct, 8pm. Grain Barge, Mardyke Wharf, Hotwells, BS8 4RU. Entry £5.
Public Meeting
Monday 24th October, 7pm. City of Bristol College (College Green campus), St George's Road, BS1 5UA
National Demonstration
The end of the Jarrow march will be marked by a national demonstration in London on Saturday 5th November. Coaches will be going from Bristol, leaving 8.30am from Anchor Road (opposite @Bristol). Contact Tom Baldwin on 07986951527 to book a place.
Thursday, 13 October 2011
BBC Report: Unemployed march from Jarrow to London
Please see this excellent interview on the BBC yesterday
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15275853
"Matt Whale from Hull explained the five demands of those taking part in a march to highlight unemployment, claiming "we have absolutely no future at the moment". He spoke to Jo Coburn from the protest - recreating the 1936 Jarrow March - which had reached the Rotherham area in South Yorkshire on the day UK unemployment rose by 114,000 between June and August to 2.57 million, a 17-year high, according to official figures."
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-15275853
"Matt Whale from Hull explained the five demands of those taking part in a march to highlight unemployment, claiming "we have absolutely no future at the moment". He spoke to Jo Coburn from the protest - recreating the 1936 Jarrow March - which had reached the Rotherham area in South Yorkshire on the day UK unemployment rose by 114,000 between June and August to 2.57 million, a 17-year high, according to official figures."
Saturday, 8 October 2011
Tory MP claiming £145,387 expenses slanders the unemployed
Since the article was written, similar attacks have appeared in the Sun and the Indepdent, please sent letters of protest to the editors and post comments to help refute these Tory slanders.
Nasty party reveals true attitude to unemployed youth
Young people marching from Jarrow to London were amused by the pack of lies being printed in tomorrows telegraph, and surprised that the conservative partys publicity department would allow such a show of their true face.
Ben Robinson, marching from Jarrow to London said “Young people have long known that the priviledged elite ruling Britain today live on a completely different planet to them, and Robert Goodwill, MP for Scarborough has revealed how true that is today. His disgraceful comments implying that all young unemployed do is watch Jeremy Kyle is a real kick in the teeth for those who are day after day searching for jobs. There have been a number of tragic cases of suicides of those who after hundreds of job rejections, and Robert Goodwills comments reveal huge depths of cynicism that lie at the heart of the Westminster. Perhaps if he did not receive £145,387 in expenses in 2008 he would have more understanding of what the situation young people is.”
“Richard Alleyne, the author of the article, perhaps should start by fact checking, and speaking to those on the march. We had a demonstration in Jarrow on Saturday which was attended by around 500 people – however, it was always going to be the case that there was a far smaller number of core marchers, around 20-30. As a march of unemployed people, of course we are organising trips to sign on and for interviews; you would hope that the MPs would welcome this display of pro-active job seeking. However all have returned to the march and are determined to make it through to the end. We would like to invite all concerned with this article to join us on Wednesday 12 October, as the latest set of unemployment figures are published and we march from Barnsley into Nick Cleggs constituency in Sheffield, or if they are worried about how sore their feet would be perhaps they could take the short march through London when we arrive on 5 November, assembling 12 noon embankment. There will be many young people from all walks of life who will be more than happy to expain what life is like in the real world.”
The Jarrow march is sponsored by eight national trade unions, including RMT, PCS, CWU, FBU, Unite, UCU, TSSA, Bectu and has been joined by countless trade union activists, young people, students and more.
http://jarrowmarch11.com/2011/10/07/tory-mp-claiming-145387-expenses-slanders-the-unemployed/
Nasty party reveals true attitude to unemployed youth
Young people marching from Jarrow to London were amused by the pack of lies being printed in tomorrows telegraph, and surprised that the conservative partys publicity department would allow such a show of their true face.
Ben Robinson, marching from Jarrow to London said “Young people have long known that the priviledged elite ruling Britain today live on a completely different planet to them, and Robert Goodwill, MP for Scarborough has revealed how true that is today. His disgraceful comments implying that all young unemployed do is watch Jeremy Kyle is a real kick in the teeth for those who are day after day searching for jobs. There have been a number of tragic cases of suicides of those who after hundreds of job rejections, and Robert Goodwills comments reveal huge depths of cynicism that lie at the heart of the Westminster. Perhaps if he did not receive £145,387 in expenses in 2008 he would have more understanding of what the situation young people is.”
“Richard Alleyne, the author of the article, perhaps should start by fact checking, and speaking to those on the march. We had a demonstration in Jarrow on Saturday which was attended by around 500 people – however, it was always going to be the case that there was a far smaller number of core marchers, around 20-30. As a march of unemployed people, of course we are organising trips to sign on and for interviews; you would hope that the MPs would welcome this display of pro-active job seeking. However all have returned to the march and are determined to make it through to the end. We would like to invite all concerned with this article to join us on Wednesday 12 October, as the latest set of unemployment figures are published and we march from Barnsley into Nick Cleggs constituency in Sheffield, or if they are worried about how sore their feet would be perhaps they could take the short march through London when we arrive on 5 November, assembling 12 noon embankment. There will be many young people from all walks of life who will be more than happy to expain what life is like in the real world.”
The Jarrow march is sponsored by eight national trade unions, including RMT, PCS, CWU, FBU, Unite, UCU, TSSA, Bectu and has been joined by countless trade union activists, young people, students and more.
http://jarrowmarch11.com/2011/10/07/tory-mp-claiming-145387-expenses-slanders-the-unemployed/
Friday, 7 October 2011
Guardian article on Jarrow March 2011
Jarrow's 2011 marchers take the long road to an uncertain future
75 years after the original crusade for jobs, young people are again taking their protest from the north-east to Westminster
Esther Addley on the A167, guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 October 2011 20.49 BST
Four days and barely 45 miles into the trek, Ben Robinson could already boast of having learned some new skills. Another marcher who was acting as the group's unofficial medic had had to duck out, "but thankfully she trained me up in foot doctoring before she left". He had already had to apply a butterfly ("where the blister is between the toes, and you have to cut the plaster") and an armadillo ("it's a way of applying the tape so you don't get more blisters – it's more technical than you think").
Most grateful for his skills was Bobbie Cranney, 26, from Newcastle, who had had to take the support minibus for a day or two, to her enormous frustration, so bad were her blisters. She was hoping to be back on the road when she could, she said, though she'd have to nip home in a day or two to sign on....
Also read the Jarrow march daily blog here: http://jarrowmarch11.com/
75 years after the original crusade for jobs, young people are again taking their protest from the north-east to Westminster
Esther Addley on the A167, guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 October 2011 20.49 BST
Four days and barely 45 miles into the trek, Ben Robinson could already boast of having learned some new skills. Another marcher who was acting as the group's unofficial medic had had to duck out, "but thankfully she trained me up in foot doctoring before she left". He had already had to apply a butterfly ("where the blister is between the toes, and you have to cut the plaster") and an armadillo ("it's a way of applying the tape so you don't get more blisters – it's more technical than you think").
Most grateful for his skills was Bobbie Cranney, 26, from Newcastle, who had had to take the support minibus for a day or two, to her enormous frustration, so bad were her blisters. She was hoping to be back on the road when she could, she said, though she'd have to nip home in a day or two to sign on....
Also read the Jarrow march daily blog here: http://jarrowmarch11.com/
Monday, 3 October 2011
Excellent coverage of Jarrow March 2011 in Mirror
Jarrow March 2011: Kevin Maguire on the road for historic repeat
by Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror 3/10/2011
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/columnists/maguire/2011/10/03/jarrow-march-2011-kevin-maguire-on-the-road-for-historic-repeat-115875-23462922/#ixzz1ZhtA9yQa
THE 330-mile walk for work from Tyneside to London is history repeating itself for James Allison. The retired labourer was a young boy when he skipped alongside his dad, also called James, one of the marchers on the 1936 Jarrow Crusade. He was also there, 75 years on, to watch a group of young people leave town in the footsteps of the most famous protest trek of them all.
“I was going along, holding my dad’s hand,” he recalled. “And one of the others grumbled that I was putting them out of step.”
Now 84, Mr Allison went on: “It was terrible in the 1930s during the Depression. Everybody was out of work up here, you had no money and you were always hungry.
“I went to school in my bare feet and drank out of a jam jar – you couldn’t pour in hot water or it’d crack. If you had a chair, you had to sell it before you got help from the unemployment board.”
Nobody claims the jobless are as badly off today as the means-tested destitute of 1930s Depression Britain. Half of a poverty-stricken Jarrow was out of work and struggling to stave off malnutrition. Yet there are signs the great British public is stirring. As the procession makes its way round town, with a brass band near the front, shoppers applaud, bus drivers toot their horns and lunchtime drinkers spill out of the pub to watch. Ordinary people are increasingly resentful of the unjust austerity of Tory Cameronomics.
One in every 10 workers in North East England is dumped on the dole. Youth unemployment at just over one in five is at a record national high. The dreams of young people are destroyed by education cuts and £9,000 university fees. Insecurity is terrorising workers; plummeting living standards the curse of a growing number of families. Those in work, such as the cleaners on the minimum wage at Tyneside’s Metro, risk losing their paid meal breaks.
Yet at this week’s Tory conference in Manchester, our Government of millionaires will blame the jobless for their plight. A big stick will be waved at the jobless while big tax cuts are dangled before the wealthy. Lizi Gray, the great granddaughter of another of the original marchers, will walk parts of the route between studying at college. The 17-year-old, from nearby Gateshead, explained: “If you go to university you’ll be saddled with a huge debt that you might never be able to pay it off.
“Is that what we want? Britain’s getting unfairer, more unequal. It doesn’t have to be like that. This march is about an alternative.”
About 30 marchers will cover all or most of the miles, compared with the 200 three-quarters of a century ago. Unemployed chef Rhys Harris, from Pontypridd, South Wales, intends to take a few days off to watch Cardiff play Burnley in the fourth round of the Carling Cup.
I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen in 1936.
Trainers and blue T-shirts have replaced hobnail boots and oilskins. The elderly may also be amused to learn they will take five weeks compared with the four weeks of the originals. Indeed, I heard the first jokey, “Are we nearly there yet?” in the very first mile.
The route, however, is broadly similar to that followed in the year of Edward VIII’s abdication. Last night the marchers were due to reach Durham and then on to London by way of Harrogate, Sheffield, Leicester, Coventry, Northampton and Luton before a rally in Trafalgar Square on Saturday, November 5.
Youth Fight for Jobs, the group behind the trek, is an offshoot of the Socialist Party, formerly part of the Militant Tendency, which Neil Kinnock devoted much energy in the 1980s to expelling from the Labour Party. Half a dozen unions including the biggest, Unite, PCS civil servants and RMT rail workers back the march.
On Saturday, I addressed a rally alongside trade unionists to send the walkers on their way on Saturday. Dave Nellist, the ex-Labour MP kicked out over his Militant links, has lost none of his combative rhetoric. Now a Socialist Party councillor in Coventry, he warned that smashing windows and rioting will achieve nothing. Even Mr Cameron may agree with that sentiment – if not Mr Nellist’s call for revolutionary action to overthrow the Tories.
Having grown up on South Tyneside, I can attest to the hold the Jarrow Crusade has on the town. It’s as much a part of the North East’s identity as the soaring Angel of the North or the magnificent Tyne Bridge. Local lad Stephen Hepburn, Jarrow’s Labour MP, was inspired as a kid by tales of the marchers. In 2001, on the 65th anniversary of the Crusade, he unveiled “The Spirit of Jarrow” statue to honour the marchers.
It’s outside Morrisons – not a spot art snobs would pick. But it guarantees a daily audience for Hepburn’s predecessor “Red Ellen” Wilkinson, two banner-carrying marchers and a couple of kids running alongside.
“We’ve massive local pride in the Jarrow Crusade,” Hepburn told me. “But it’s more than a piece of history. It’s a warning about what the Tories will do, turning their backs on the unemployed. And a rallying cry to good people everywhere to stand up and be counted.”
History has repeated itself too for pensioner Emma Madsen. Back in 1936, when she was a jobless teenager, she stood near Jarrow Town Hall to cheer the leaving marchers.
Fast forward to 2011 and the former barmaid was in Jarrow Park, curious to see this group. “Everybody was much poorer than today,” she remembered. “But good luck to them. At least they’re having a go.”
Then, with a twinkle in her eyes, she showed Jarrow’s true grit. “I might have gone with them if I had the legs,” she said. “As it is, I’d have just slowed them up.”
I’m not so sure, although she is 94.
by Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror 3/10/2011
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/columnists/maguire/2011/10/03/jarrow-march-2011-kevin-maguire-on-the-road-for-historic-repeat-115875-23462922/#ixzz1ZhtA9yQa
THE 330-mile walk for work from Tyneside to London is history repeating itself for James Allison. The retired labourer was a young boy when he skipped alongside his dad, also called James, one of the marchers on the 1936 Jarrow Crusade. He was also there, 75 years on, to watch a group of young people leave town in the footsteps of the most famous protest trek of them all.
“I was going along, holding my dad’s hand,” he recalled. “And one of the others grumbled that I was putting them out of step.”
Now 84, Mr Allison went on: “It was terrible in the 1930s during the Depression. Everybody was out of work up here, you had no money and you were always hungry.
“I went to school in my bare feet and drank out of a jam jar – you couldn’t pour in hot water or it’d crack. If you had a chair, you had to sell it before you got help from the unemployment board.”
Nobody claims the jobless are as badly off today as the means-tested destitute of 1930s Depression Britain. Half of a poverty-stricken Jarrow was out of work and struggling to stave off malnutrition. Yet there are signs the great British public is stirring. As the procession makes its way round town, with a brass band near the front, shoppers applaud, bus drivers toot their horns and lunchtime drinkers spill out of the pub to watch. Ordinary people are increasingly resentful of the unjust austerity of Tory Cameronomics.
One in every 10 workers in North East England is dumped on the dole. Youth unemployment at just over one in five is at a record national high. The dreams of young people are destroyed by education cuts and £9,000 university fees. Insecurity is terrorising workers; plummeting living standards the curse of a growing number of families. Those in work, such as the cleaners on the minimum wage at Tyneside’s Metro, risk losing their paid meal breaks.
Yet at this week’s Tory conference in Manchester, our Government of millionaires will blame the jobless for their plight. A big stick will be waved at the jobless while big tax cuts are dangled before the wealthy. Lizi Gray, the great granddaughter of another of the original marchers, will walk parts of the route between studying at college. The 17-year-old, from nearby Gateshead, explained: “If you go to university you’ll be saddled with a huge debt that you might never be able to pay it off.
“Is that what we want? Britain’s getting unfairer, more unequal. It doesn’t have to be like that. This march is about an alternative.”
About 30 marchers will cover all or most of the miles, compared with the 200 three-quarters of a century ago. Unemployed chef Rhys Harris, from Pontypridd, South Wales, intends to take a few days off to watch Cardiff play Burnley in the fourth round of the Carling Cup.
I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen in 1936.
Trainers and blue T-shirts have replaced hobnail boots and oilskins. The elderly may also be amused to learn they will take five weeks compared with the four weeks of the originals. Indeed, I heard the first jokey, “Are we nearly there yet?” in the very first mile.
The route, however, is broadly similar to that followed in the year of Edward VIII’s abdication. Last night the marchers were due to reach Durham and then on to London by way of Harrogate, Sheffield, Leicester, Coventry, Northampton and Luton before a rally in Trafalgar Square on Saturday, November 5.
Youth Fight for Jobs, the group behind the trek, is an offshoot of the Socialist Party, formerly part of the Militant Tendency, which Neil Kinnock devoted much energy in the 1980s to expelling from the Labour Party. Half a dozen unions including the biggest, Unite, PCS civil servants and RMT rail workers back the march.
On Saturday, I addressed a rally alongside trade unionists to send the walkers on their way on Saturday. Dave Nellist, the ex-Labour MP kicked out over his Militant links, has lost none of his combative rhetoric. Now a Socialist Party councillor in Coventry, he warned that smashing windows and rioting will achieve nothing. Even Mr Cameron may agree with that sentiment – if not Mr Nellist’s call for revolutionary action to overthrow the Tories.
Having grown up on South Tyneside, I can attest to the hold the Jarrow Crusade has on the town. It’s as much a part of the North East’s identity as the soaring Angel of the North or the magnificent Tyne Bridge. Local lad Stephen Hepburn, Jarrow’s Labour MP, was inspired as a kid by tales of the marchers. In 2001, on the 65th anniversary of the Crusade, he unveiled “The Spirit of Jarrow” statue to honour the marchers.
It’s outside Morrisons – not a spot art snobs would pick. But it guarantees a daily audience for Hepburn’s predecessor “Red Ellen” Wilkinson, two banner-carrying marchers and a couple of kids running alongside.
“We’ve massive local pride in the Jarrow Crusade,” Hepburn told me. “But it’s more than a piece of history. It’s a warning about what the Tories will do, turning their backs on the unemployed. And a rallying cry to good people everywhere to stand up and be counted.”
History has repeated itself too for pensioner Emma Madsen. Back in 1936, when she was a jobless teenager, she stood near Jarrow Town Hall to cheer the leaving marchers.
Fast forward to 2011 and the former barmaid was in Jarrow Park, curious to see this group. “Everybody was much poorer than today,” she remembered. “But good luck to them. At least they’re having a go.”
Then, with a twinkle in her eyes, she showed Jarrow’s true grit. “I might have gone with them if I had the legs,” she said. “As it is, I’d have just slowed them up.”
I’m not so sure, although she is 94.
Sunday, 2 October 2011
Jarrow March 2011 sets off!
A daily report and pictures to be posted here: http://jarrowmarch11.com/
The march has received a huge amount of coverage in the national and local media.
The Guardian: http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/feedarticle/9873893
BBC report here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-tyne-15135644
The BBC have even been encourage to look back at the historic Jarrow March, here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9604000/9604857.stm
Tuesday, 27 September 2011
Jarrow March: Council levies £2500 on unemployed protest
Urgent press release, for immediate use - ‘Jarrow March’ council want to charge young, unemployed people £2,500 to re-enact march 75 years on
Paul Callanan, Youth Fight for Jobs, National Organiser says: “This is an outrage. South Tyneside council, which has the original Jarrow March banner and petition on proud display is demanding that young, mainly unemployed people, pay £2,500 to re-enact the march. What the council is essentially trying to do is put a price on democracy. YFJ has organised many protests and demonstrations and this is the first time a council has demanded money for road closure.
This comes just over a month after the inner cities were rocked by a wave of youth riots. You would think that the council would take a more sympathetic stance towards young people wanting to peacefully march for a future. How are young people, many of whom are on the dole or are students being forced to pay sky high fees, supposed to pay this extortionate fee?
This is a threat to right to protest for all working class and young people. I have been told that I need to pay £2,500 for road closures in Jarrow on the opening day. I am personally liable for this fee. If South Tyneside council get away with this today what happens to trade unionists, students, youth and anti-cuts campaigners who want to protest against vicious ConDem austerity. Whatever happens Youth Fight for Jobs will be marching from Jarrow this Saturday, with huge support from local people and trade unions. We will campaign against any attempt to charge us for doing so ”
We urge people to register their complaints with the council at customerhelp@southtyneside.gov.uk or see the councils complaints page http://www.southtyneside.info/applications/2/corporatefeedback/default.aspx?formtype=complaint or phone 0845 1450 100
Youth Fight for Jobs was launched in 2009 in response to sky high youth unemployment. We now have the backing of the PCS, RMT, Unite, UCU, CWU, Bectu, TSSA trade unioon.
For more info contact www.youthfightforjobs@gmail.com
Log on www.youthfightforjobs.com or jarrowmarch11.com
This comes just over a month after the inner cities were rocked by a wave of youth riots. You would think that the council would take a more sympathetic stance towards young people wanting to peacefully march for a future. How are young people, many of whom are on the dole or are students being forced to pay sky high fees, supposed to pay this extortionate fee?
This is a threat to right to protest for all working class and young people. I have been told that I need to pay £2,500 for road closures in Jarrow on the opening day. I am personally liable for this fee. If South Tyneside council get away with this today what happens to trade unionists, students, youth and anti-cuts campaigners who want to protest against vicious ConDem austerity. Whatever happens Youth Fight for Jobs will be marching from Jarrow this Saturday, with huge support from local people and trade unions. We will campaign against any attempt to charge us for doing so ”
We urge people to register their complaints with the council at customerhelp@southtyneside.gov.uk or see the councils complaints page http://www.southtyneside.info/applications/2/corporatefeedback/default.aspx?formtype=complaint or phone 0845 1450 100
Youth Fight for Jobs was launched in 2009 in response to sky high youth unemployment. We now have the backing of the PCS, RMT, Unite, UCU, CWU, Bectu, TSSA trade unioon.
For more info contact www.youthfightforjobs@gmail.com
Log on www.youthfightforjobs.com or jarrowmarch11.com
Wednesday, 21 September 2011
Daily Mirror shows support for Jarrow March 2011
Kevin Maguire, columnist with the Daily Mirror, has praised the organisers of Youth Fight For Jobs the Jarrow March 2011, which is setting off on 1st October and should arrive in London on the 5th November, to raise awareness about soaring unemployment and the Conservative-Liberal complicity in axing jobs, services and opportunities for young workers and students. This follows previous positive coverage in the Sunday Mirror.
Walking in the footsteps of the Jarrow marchersby Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror 21/09/2011
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/columnists/maguire/2011/09/21/walking-in-the-footsteps-of-the-jarrow-marchers-115875-23434822/#ixzz1YcCPqmTS
THE Jarrow Crusade, 75 years old next month, is an inspirational chapter in our country’s history.
In the Great Depression, 200 hungry and desperate jobless men went on a 300-mile walk for work to London. Tories and Liberals on Tyneside and along the route backed the 1936 protest which, unfashionable as it remains to say, was an utter failure. PM Stanley Baldwin refused to see them and ironically it was Hitler who saved the shipbuilding town, war requiring warships.
I wish the best of luck to the plucky young people who, a week on Saturday, begin walking in the footsteps of the Jarrow men. Nearly one in five young people are on the scrapheap. But this trek doesn’t have the support of the Cons. Cameron’s Big Society only has room for the successful and well-to-do.
http://jarrowmarch11.com
Walking in the footsteps of the Jarrow marchersby Kevin Maguire, Daily Mirror 21/09/2011
Read more: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/columnists/maguire/2011/09/21/walking-in-the-footsteps-of-the-jarrow-marchers-115875-23434822/#ixzz1YcCPqmTS
THE Jarrow Crusade, 75 years old next month, is an inspirational chapter in our country’s history.
In the Great Depression, 200 hungry and desperate jobless men went on a 300-mile walk for work to London. Tories and Liberals on Tyneside and along the route backed the 1936 protest which, unfashionable as it remains to say, was an utter failure. PM Stanley Baldwin refused to see them and ironically it was Hitler who saved the shipbuilding town, war requiring warships.
I wish the best of luck to the plucky young people who, a week on Saturday, begin walking in the footsteps of the Jarrow men. Nearly one in five young people are on the scrapheap. But this trek doesn’t have the support of the Cons. Cameron’s Big Society only has room for the successful and well-to-do.
http://jarrowmarch11.com
Thursday, 18 August 2011
Youth Fight For Jobs and Day-Mer Youth organise in Tottenham
By Martin Powell-Davies
A week on from the riots, 'Youth Fight for Jobs' and 'Day-Mer Youth' organised an excellent meeting in Tottenham last night to discuss the way forward for the community and local youth. The meeting was introduced by Steve Hedley from the RMT and Vik Chechi from Youth Fight for Jobs (YF4J) but, refreshingly, most time was left for those in the audience to give their own opinions.
Contributions from a wide range of ages and backgrounds all reached a similar conclusion - that youth had every reason to be angry but that rioting helped nobody. However, unlike the hypocritical condemnation being spouted by the press and politicians, everyone who spoke wanted to seriously reflect on why the riots had broken out and, crucially, suggest ways to help the youth and community productively organise action over the many grievances facing working people across all of London's communities.
Before the meeting, YF4J had held a protest against the closure of youth services by Haringey's Labour Council. Plans were outlined to organise further demonstrations to oppose council cuts in the future.
David Lammy, Tottenham's Labour MP, came in for strong criticism for his failure to explain the real grievances facing local people and for not speaking out against the cuts and the stop-and-search harassment suffered by local youth. Calls for community campaigns and trade unions to stand their own anti-cuts candidates in the London Assembly elections were applauded.
The vindictive sentences being handed out on rioters were contrasted with the 'looting' of our services and taxes by the wealthy - with Osborne now suggesting he will even abolish the 50p tax rate for the wealthy.
A local youth, Young Deacon, performed "Failed by the System" that has so much more to say about the riots than the demonisation of black youth being spouted by many of the tabloids. Have a look on:http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/ourkingdom/young-deacon-failed-by-system
Zoe, a young teacher, spoke at her anger about the way that youth were being scapegoated in the media and for the way many pupils were labelled as 'failures' at an early age. Others pointed out that the killing of Mark Duggan by the police, the incident that had sparked the riots in the first place, must not be forgotten. Youth Fight for Jobs have been calling for an independent trade-union and community led enquiry into his death.
Trade unionists also spoke about the need for unions to show a way forward by taking strike action against cuts and austerity - especially by continuing and extending the action against pensions in the autumn. Many present said they would be be attending the NSSN Rally and Lobby on September 11th to call on the TUC to organise co-ordinated strike action across the public sector. Nina Franklin, NUT President, will be speaking as well as Bob Crow from the RMT and Mark Serwotka from the PCS.
When teachers return to school in September, both teachers and school students will undoubtedly be discussing the shocking events of August. We certainly don't need lectures from the press, politicians and the powerful to follow their high moral standards!
Teachers, as ever, will be trying to offer genuine support and help to young people so that they can make the most of the opportunities open to them and not follow the dead-end of rioting. However, teachers and students alike will be increasingly asking what opportunities are really available to embrace the many talents of our youngsters? It's not enough for Ministers to condemn 'criminality', it is their responsibility to provide decent jobs, training and education for our school leavers.
http://electmartin1.blogspot.com/2011/08/youth-fight-for-jobs-organise-in.html
http://www.youthfightforjobs.com/
http://daymer.org/
A week on from the riots, 'Youth Fight for Jobs' and 'Day-Mer Youth' organised an excellent meeting in Tottenham last night to discuss the way forward for the community and local youth. The meeting was introduced by Steve Hedley from the RMT and Vik Chechi from Youth Fight for Jobs (YF4J) but, refreshingly, most time was left for those in the audience to give their own opinions.
Contributions from a wide range of ages and backgrounds all reached a similar conclusion - that youth had every reason to be angry but that rioting helped nobody. However, unlike the hypocritical condemnation being spouted by the press and politicians, everyone who spoke wanted to seriously reflect on why the riots had broken out and, crucially, suggest ways to help the youth and community productively organise action over the many grievances facing working people across all of London's communities.
Before the meeting, YF4J had held a protest against the closure of youth services by Haringey's Labour Council. Plans were outlined to organise further demonstrations to oppose council cuts in the future.
David Lammy, Tottenham's Labour MP, came in for strong criticism for his failure to explain the real grievances facing local people and for not speaking out against the cuts and the stop-and-search harassment suffered by local youth. Calls for community campaigns and trade unions to stand their own anti-cuts candidates in the London Assembly elections were applauded.
The vindictive sentences being handed out on rioters were contrasted with the 'looting' of our services and taxes by the wealthy - with Osborne now suggesting he will even abolish the 50p tax rate for the wealthy.
A local youth, Young Deacon, performed "Failed by the System" that has so much more to say about the riots than the demonisation of black youth being spouted by many of the tabloids. Have a look on:http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/ourkingdom/young-deacon-failed-by-system
Zoe, a young teacher, spoke at her anger about the way that youth were being scapegoated in the media and for the way many pupils were labelled as 'failures' at an early age. Others pointed out that the killing of Mark Duggan by the police, the incident that had sparked the riots in the first place, must not be forgotten. Youth Fight for Jobs have been calling for an independent trade-union and community led enquiry into his death.
Trade unionists also spoke about the need for unions to show a way forward by taking strike action against cuts and austerity - especially by continuing and extending the action against pensions in the autumn. Many present said they would be be attending the NSSN Rally and Lobby on September 11th to call on the TUC to organise co-ordinated strike action across the public sector. Nina Franklin, NUT President, will be speaking as well as Bob Crow from the RMT and Mark Serwotka from the PCS.
When teachers return to school in September, both teachers and school students will undoubtedly be discussing the shocking events of August. We certainly don't need lectures from the press, politicians and the powerful to follow their high moral standards!
Teachers, as ever, will be trying to offer genuine support and help to young people so that they can make the most of the opportunities open to them and not follow the dead-end of rioting. However, teachers and students alike will be increasingly asking what opportunities are really available to embrace the many talents of our youngsters? It's not enough for Ministers to condemn 'criminality', it is their responsibility to provide decent jobs, training and education for our school leavers.
http://electmartin1.blogspot.com/2011/08/youth-fight-for-jobs-organise-in.html
http://www.youthfightforjobs.com/
http://daymer.org/
Sunday, 7 August 2011
Jarrow March 2011: Letter of Support from PCS DWP Young Members Committee
Below is the letter from the PCS DWP YMC:
The PCS DWP Young Members Committee fully supports the Jarrow to London march, organised by Youth Fight for Jobs (YFJ), in October and November 2011. Our committee represents thousands of young workers in DWP and CMEC who deliver vital public welfare services. We welcome the important role that Youth Fight for Jobs has played in organising unemployed youth, young workers and students in fighting for a decent future. Futhermore, we welcome the historic decision taken by YFJ to organise a march from Jarrow to London on the 75th anniversary of the first Jarrow march.
PCS young members in the DWP are very familiar with the effects that unemployment can have on individuals and communities. We deliver a
public welfare service aimed at getting people into work and lifting people out of poverty. Unfortunately, our efforts are hampered by office closures, job cuts, and an under-staffed service. As young trade unionists, we also recognise that unemployment undermines the ability of working people to organise through trade unions to improve our lot in life. Employers are quick to point out that if you’re unhappy, there’s plenty of people worse off out there who would be
willing to replace you. The fight against unemployment and for decent jobs is a key trade union issue.
public welfare service aimed at getting people into work and lifting people out of poverty. Unfortunately, our efforts are hampered by office closures, job cuts, and an under-staffed service. As young trade unionists, we also recognise that unemployment undermines the ability of working people to organise through trade unions to improve our lot in life. Employers are quick to point out that if you’re unhappy, there’s plenty of people worse off out there who would be
willing to replace you. The fight against unemployment and for decent jobs is a key trade union issue.
PCSyoung members in the DWP are grateful for the support of YFJ in our campaigns for decent working conditions in call centres,
fighting cuts in jobs, pay, redundancy protection and pensions, and for mpermanent jobs for staff on fixed-term contracts. We believe that it is a
national scandal that there are nearly 1 million young people out of work at the present time, and commend Youth Fight for Jobs in organising to highlight
this shameful situation. We will do whatever we can to promote, publicise and support the Jarrow to London March for Jobs.
fighting cuts in jobs, pay, redundancy protection and pensions, and for mpermanent jobs for staff on fixed-term contracts. We believe that it is a
national scandal that there are nearly 1 million young people out of work at the present time, and commend Youth Fight for Jobs in organising to highlight
this shameful situation. We will do whatever we can to promote, publicise and support the Jarrow to London March for Jobs.
In solidarity,
PCS DWP Young Members Committee
http://jarrowmarch11.com/
http://jarrowmarch11.com/
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Youth Fight for Jobs: Jarrow marchers call for one combined demonstration on 5th November
http://jarrowmarch11.com/
Youth Fight for Jobs are recreating the Jarrow March on the 75th anniversary, and are bringing together students, unemployed workers, trade union members and activists in a demonstration on Saturday 5 November, assembling at Embankment at 11am.
The campaign was confused by yesterdays call by the National Campaign against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) to organise a separate demonstration on 9 November.
Leeds University Against the Cuts (LUAC) press spokesperson Ian Pattison said "I am confused as to why this call has been made. The march on 5 November has been publicly announced for 5 months and has received coverage in the Guardian and Independent.
"I announced this at the NUS conference and proposed that all student anti-cuts groups work together to build a united resistance to all the cuts, and campaign for a future for all young people, against the governments brutal measures.
"The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts backed this march at its recent conference.
"I am confused as to why yesterdays announcement to split the resistance was made without any consultation with student anti-cuts activists such as myself."
Ben Robinson, Chair of Youth Fight for Jobs, said "The recreation of the Jarrow march has the backing of six national trade unions, Unite, PCS, RMT, Bectu, TSSA, FBU and UCU.
"It also has the support of many student anti-cuts groups and individuals up and down the country who are marching, offering us accommodation, helping to organise the protest and so forth. Many of our members played leading roles in the student anti-fees protests. We hope that the NCAFC and EAN do not try to divide the resistance. We hope that we can get together and discuss with representatives from those groups so that we have one demonstration on 5 November that all activists can build for at the start of the new term."
Youth Fight for Jobs are recreating the Jarrow March on the 75th anniversary, and are bringing together students, unemployed workers, trade union members and activists in a demonstration on Saturday 5 November, assembling at Embankment at 11am.
The campaign was confused by yesterdays call by the National Campaign against Fees and Cuts (NCAFC) to organise a separate demonstration on 9 November.
Leeds University Against the Cuts (LUAC) press spokesperson Ian Pattison said "I am confused as to why this call has been made. The march on 5 November has been publicly announced for 5 months and has received coverage in the Guardian and Independent.
"I announced this at the NUS conference and proposed that all student anti-cuts groups work together to build a united resistance to all the cuts, and campaign for a future for all young people, against the governments brutal measures.
"The National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts backed this march at its recent conference.
"I am confused as to why yesterdays announcement to split the resistance was made without any consultation with student anti-cuts activists such as myself."
Ben Robinson, Chair of Youth Fight for Jobs, said "The recreation of the Jarrow march has the backing of six national trade unions, Unite, PCS, RMT, Bectu, TSSA, FBU and UCU.
"It also has the support of many student anti-cuts groups and individuals up and down the country who are marching, offering us accommodation, helping to organise the protest and so forth. Many of our members played leading roles in the student anti-fees protests. We hope that the NCAFC and EAN do not try to divide the resistance. We hope that we can get together and discuss with representatives from those groups so that we have one demonstration on 5 November that all activists can build for at the start of the new term."
Saturday, 9 July 2011
British youth protest needs the spirit of los indignados
YFJ national organiser Paul Callanan in the Guardians Comment is Free –http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/04/british-youth-protest-los-indignados-cuts
In the past few weeks, Europe has been rocked by youth rebellion. In Spain, young people have taken to the squares and plazas in a movement against sky-high levels of unemployment. In Greece, a huge movement of young people supported by the trade unions has taken to the streets over the government’s brutal austerity agenda. And now if young people are to have anything like a decent future in Britain, we need to do the same here.
At the moment there are nearly 1 million young people unemployed. We have also seen the right to an education snatched away from working- and middle-class students and turned into a privilege for the wealthiest few in society. Public sector cuts will also impact young people disproportionately as millions more are sent to the dole queue, while those services that support unemployed peopleare slashed to the bone. And this government of Bullingdon Boys wants to heap more misery upon us.
In spite of Cameron’s crocodile tears, the government clearly sees the situation as an opportunity to be seized for rich mates rather than the scourge that it is. Under its work programme, the unemployed will be turned into an army of slave labour working for meagre benefits.
It is fitting that this all coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Jarrow Crusade. Because, if the present economic crisis and attacks on young and working people show anything, it is that capitalism has not been able to solve the question of unemployment and poor living standards in the decades since the march. Yes, we may live much better now but we face 75 years of gains, like the NHS, the welfare state and the right to an education, being blotted out of existence. This government wants to wind back the clock to the 1930s. That is why we are bringing the spirit of “los indignados” to Britain and marching again.
Young people, unemployed people, trade union activists and students from the struggle last year will march from town to town, starting on 1 October and arriving in London on 5 November, myself among them. We will be organising protests, demonstrations and meetings to bring together all these groups. We’re demanding job creation not destruction from the government. We’re demanding a wage you can live on for all, including apprentices and interns. We’re demanding a halt to the brutal attacks on benefits, already lower for young people. To beat this government and to win a decent future, young people need to be part of a broad anti-cuts movement. That’s why the solidarity shown on 30 June was so important. We want the march to help build a mass movement.
The student movement at the end of last year already gave a glimpse of what was possible when young people moved. Not only did that movement break the silence on the Con-Dem cuts, shattering the idea that the cuts were necessary and inevitable, but it also won important concessions showing that mass movement can still win victories.
And events this year have shown that mass movements can change the world. The revolutionary wave that has swept across the Middle East was started by young people in Tunisia and Egypt. In Spain young people are marching from the north coast to Madrid. And just like young people have already done from Cairo to Madrid, we need to stand up and say that we won’t be a lost generation.
For more about the Jarrow March 2011: http://jarrowmarch11.com/
In the past few weeks, Europe has been rocked by youth rebellion. In Spain, young people have taken to the squares and plazas in a movement against sky-high levels of unemployment. In Greece, a huge movement of young people supported by the trade unions has taken to the streets over the government’s brutal austerity agenda. And now if young people are to have anything like a decent future in Britain, we need to do the same here.
At the moment there are nearly 1 million young people unemployed. We have also seen the right to an education snatched away from working- and middle-class students and turned into a privilege for the wealthiest few in society. Public sector cuts will also impact young people disproportionately as millions more are sent to the dole queue, while those services that support unemployed peopleare slashed to the bone. And this government of Bullingdon Boys wants to heap more misery upon us.
In spite of Cameron’s crocodile tears, the government clearly sees the situation as an opportunity to be seized for rich mates rather than the scourge that it is. Under its work programme, the unemployed will be turned into an army of slave labour working for meagre benefits.
It is fitting that this all coincides with the 75th anniversary of the Jarrow Crusade. Because, if the present economic crisis and attacks on young and working people show anything, it is that capitalism has not been able to solve the question of unemployment and poor living standards in the decades since the march. Yes, we may live much better now but we face 75 years of gains, like the NHS, the welfare state and the right to an education, being blotted out of existence. This government wants to wind back the clock to the 1930s. That is why we are bringing the spirit of “los indignados” to Britain and marching again.
Young people, unemployed people, trade union activists and students from the struggle last year will march from town to town, starting on 1 October and arriving in London on 5 November, myself among them. We will be organising protests, demonstrations and meetings to bring together all these groups. We’re demanding job creation not destruction from the government. We’re demanding a wage you can live on for all, including apprentices and interns. We’re demanding a halt to the brutal attacks on benefits, already lower for young people. To beat this government and to win a decent future, young people need to be part of a broad anti-cuts movement. That’s why the solidarity shown on 30 June was so important. We want the march to help build a mass movement.
The student movement at the end of last year already gave a glimpse of what was possible when young people moved. Not only did that movement break the silence on the Con-Dem cuts, shattering the idea that the cuts were necessary and inevitable, but it also won important concessions showing that mass movement can still win victories.
And events this year have shown that mass movements can change the world. The revolutionary wave that has swept across the Middle East was started by young people in Tunisia and Egypt. In Spain young people are marching from the north coast to Madrid. And just like young people have already done from Cairo to Madrid, we need to stand up and say that we won’t be a lost generation.
For more about the Jarrow March 2011: http://jarrowmarch11.com/
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