June 30: Local reports from around the country
 

3 July                                            

Rally and march in Powys

Over sixty strikers joined a rally and march in Llandrindod Wells, Powys. Powys is the largest and most thinly populated county in England and Wales, with no big towns, so a rally of this size, with people coming from over fifty miles away, shows the depth of feeling on the pension�s issue.

Speakers from NUT, ATL and PCS described their union members' anger at the attack on their pensions and working conditions. A trade unionist from Remploy reminded people that this was only part of the government's attack on working people and on people with disabilities.

Many schools were closed, particularly a majority of Secondary Schools where staff are angered at the council's money-saving plan to shut many sixth forms and force pupils to travel even more miles for sixth form education.

There was general agreement that the battle is only beginning and that there is a need to set up Powys Against the Cuts to fight the attacks on our jobs and services.

Two strike meetings for the price of one in Surrey!

By Paul Couchman, secretary, Surrey County Council Trade Union Group (in a personal capacity)

"Camberley has never seen anything like this before" said Ted Truscoe from the NUT as a human stream of mainly young people with balloons, flags and banners marched around the town centre on their way to a rally at Camberley Theatre.

There were placards and banners from NUT, UCU, ATL, PCS and Unison and the new Save Our Services in Surrey (SOSiS) banner. At least six Unison activists (myself included) had taken the day off as annual leave or TOIL so we could be there.

Every other car hooted their support as they drove by and workers cheered from office windows and shop doors all along the route.

When we arrived at the rally, I was taken aside (as I was chairing the rally) and told we would have to do two sittings as the hall only holds 140 and we had over 300 outside! All this from an organising meeting attended by a handful of reps from the striking unions hosted by SOSiS only a few days before.

In the two rallies, all the speakers were local leaders from the striking unions, many of whom had never done anything like this before. Every call for further action got thunderous applause and the mood was certainly there for an even bigger, wider, public sector strike in the autumn school term.

Every speaker called for the other unions to come on board. As secretary of Surrey County Council Trade Unions (SCCTU) I was proud to be invited to chair these historic meetings which I believe mark the start of the rebirth of the trade union and labour movement in the Surrey area.

I said: "As branch secretary of Unison I feel frustrated at not actually being able to strike alongside the other unions today but I look forward to balloting our members soon so we can be part of this fantastic movement to defend pensions and fight this vicious and cowardly government".

I called on all the strikers present: "Don't just go home from today and back to work to do nothing till the next strike day - get organised, become active in your union, get political and challenge the status quo".

The previous night saw an eve-of-strike rally organised by the Redhill Anti-Cuts Group, where I had spoken alongside strikers from NUT and UCU.

A representative from Reigate and Banstead Unison was at the meeting and she told us: "My phone hasn't stopped ringing from members wanting to know why we are not striking tomorrow!"

On the morning of the strike I went with fellow trade union members, Annie (also from Unison) and Alan (from the POA) to support the PCS picket line at Woking Tax Office.

By 10 o'clock there were 25 of us on the picket line and then we were joined by even more PCS pickets from the job centre up the road. A Royal Mail van pulled up and the postman jumped out of his van, strolled up to us and said 'solidarity comrades' and punched the air. By 12pm we had jumped into our cars and headed for Camberley.

Bearing in mind a previous Saturday demonstration in Woking against the cuts had been 150 strong, we were thinking there would be 50-100 turning out on a weekday strike action demonstration.

There were six times our lowest estimate!

Whilst on the PCS picket line I asked a couple of strikers for a few words for the NSSN:

Thelma Snelgrove - deputy branch secretary of PCS Woking HMRC branch:

"I'm here with my members representing PCS because I believe there is an alternative to cuts. We should be investing in public services to help the economy to grow.

"There is a �120 billion tax gap to be collected. If there was the resources and the staff to collect these taxes we wouldn't have to make the cuts.

"The government would have the public believe that our pensions are gold plated but the average pension in the civil service is �4,000. The government continues to inflate this figure by including the pensions of senior civil servants and permanent secretaries.

"The strike here is probably 75% solid (we won't know exactly till tomorrow). There is a strong and confident mood for action.

"When workers join the civil service they accept low salaries because of the pension scheme and the civil service compensation schemes but the government are trying to unilaterally change our contracts in the race to the bottom.

"If the government doesn't listen we need further action in the autumn with a view to wider public sector national strikes."

Mike Briggs, branch secretary from the same branch added: "There are many people here striking this time who have never taken action before".

Rosa Briggs, branch chair of the Surrey DWP branch of PCS said: "We are standing against all the cuts - basically to protect our welfare state and to fight for jobs and services.

"Our members support the campaign. Some members who have never been out before are on strike.

"The pensions issue has moved them to take action - previously they have crossed picket lines. I think the rest of the unions need to be united and ballot their members to join this strike campaign.

"Today has been excellent.

"So many members of the public have supported us, honking their car horns, smiling, waving and giving us the thumbs up!"

Alan Guest, branch chair of the Prison Officers Association (POA) at Send Prison, Woking, had taken the morning off work to support the picket and brought solidarity from the POA who were holding lunchtime protests around the country.

Caerphilly: first ever call centre picket

PCS members in the Van Road DWP call centre face closure of their office in nine months time. They've been told that they will all be redeployed, but they have no idea how that will be possible with the cutbacks taking place.

Nevertheless, the mood was good on the picket line. This was the first picket ever mounted at the Caerphilly call centre.

They had heard stories from other DWP workplace picket lines and they had decided that this time they had to play their part.

Leeds: a successful strike day

Leeds was awash with public sector workers on picket lines at locations around the city including schools, colleges, universities, job centres, courts, tax office and several other workplaces.

At York Road Jobcentre several union members on strike reported that management were playing the temporary staff off against permanent staff, giving indications that not going on strike would lead to the extension of temporary contracts, whereas at Park Place jobcentre there were four pickets and management were bussed in.

Kirkstall UK Border agency had nine on the picket line, while there was two at the Probation Office, and eight at HMRC where very few people crossed the picket lines.

The effect of the student movement last year and the hard work and determination of UCU showed in the numbers on the picket line at the university on strike in Leeds, with 15 at Leeds met, six at Broadcasting house, one at Leeds Technological College, 15 at Leeds City College Park Lane Campus.

Additionally 15 turned out at Leeds Trinity University College.

At Wealston prison in nearby Wetherby 10-15 PCS members were on strike and a meeting followed later with 40 in attendance to discuss future actions. The British Library also had 8-11 on the picket lines.

Lecturers, teachers, students, civil servants and others assembled at Leeds Metropolitan University to march towards Leeds city square. The march was welcomed by the cheers of a several hundred strong crowd who had already gathered in the square, as well as the steel drum band which gave the crowd a positive and lively festival atmosphere in which to start the rally.

The rally closed with a local musician singing several songs reminiscent of the long history of the class struggle.

Exeter: workers understood the need for more united action in the autumn

The UCU, NUT, PCS and ATL strike was solid in Exeter. There were picket lines outside Exeter College, Exeter Prison, the HMRC office, Jobcentre Plus and a DWP call centre.

Striking ATL teachers from private schools even held a small picket.

Nova Gresham, regional official of the UCU explained the strike's importance on the picket lines when she said: "there are many bad things in this world, but to attack peoples' pensions and futures is really disgusting".

She further echoed many of the workers on strike when she explained: "we are meant to be part of a labour movement, but at the moment, only part of it is moving".

It is clear that although the mood was positive, workers understood the need for more united action in the autumn. A packed out rally followed the picket lines, where 500 people crammed in to hear speakers from all the unions, including NSSN member Jim Thompson, speak.

The main attraction however was Brendon Barber, who while certainly talking the talk about unity and action, fell short of calling for a 24-hour public sector general strike as Jim did.

The mood of the rally was electric, and the biggest applause came from any mention of further action if further negotiations fail. 700 people then marched in a lively demonstration up Exeter High Street, to a Festival for the Alternative, which featured music, including Billy Bragg, political stalls and great weather.

It is estimated that over 1,000 people were involved in the rally, demo or festival.

UCU member, Exeter

London: '80-90% of schools closed or partially closed across London - look around and feel your strength!'

The streams of people turned to rivers, and the rivers turned into a flood as delegations of striking trade unionists from all four corners of London converged on Lincoln's Inn Fields for today's London demonstration against pension robbery.

Many had already come from local rallies and picket lines in their own boroughs. There were ten different picket lines outside Lewisham schools and several PCS and UCU pickets as well.

We got our message out early to London via a live interview for LBC radio from the picket line at St Matthews Academy. From there, NUT members made their way to Lewisham Town Hall and then up to Charing Cross before marching over to an already packed Lincoln's Inn Fields.

The demonstration was good-humoured but determined, whistling and chanting as we made our way slowly through the sunshine of Central London.

"What do we want - a decent pension! When do we want it? Before we die!" seemed to go down best with the young teachers on the considerable delegation behind the Lewisham NUT banner!

The turnout was two or three times greater than we were expecting - around 20,000 PCS, ATL, UCU and NUT members marched down Whitehall to the rally at Westminster Central Hall.

Reports from Lewisham NUT members that managed to make it into Central Hall spoke of an electric atmosphere at the closing rally addressed by the general secretaries of all four striking unions.

Both in London - and at the dozens of rallies across England and Wales - the unions jointly launched a Fair Pensions for All Petition demanding that all workers and pensioners have dignity and decent living standards in retirement.

I was asked to speak at the overflow rally outside Central Hall to address the many marchers that could not make it inside the hall. Before I spoke, a Lewisham Unison member and teaching assistant explained that he had joined the rally today to show his support.

To cheers, he added that, in the autumn, Unison and other school staff unions must all be on strike together. I asked the marchers to "look around and feel your strength.

This government may have thought they were going to get away with their cuts but now they know that the trade unions are on the march. They tried to claim that 40% was a low turnout for a ballot - but teachers have voted with their feet today with 80-90% of schools closed or partially closed across London".

"The press try to claim we haven't got public support but the response from parents and drivers passing our picket lines has been excellent. People want to see someone standing up to this government's cuts at last - and that's what they see us doing today".

"In 2005-6 the threat of united action forced the last government to retreat over pensions attacks. We can do the same in 2011.

"If we strike together, then we can win together"

Martin Powell-Davies, NUT NEC (pc)

Ed Miliband - the 'right' note?

On the train on way back from Birmingham demo I overheard Ed Miliband (he was travelling second class with the common folk!) say that he thought he had struck the right tone when speaking at the local government conference also in Birmingham earlier today.

Shame he couldn't make the rally in Victoria Square - a few thousand teachers may not have agreed with him.

Cardiff: new trade union reps organising strikes

There was about 1,000 on the Cardiff demonstration. Jimmy Gill, chair of Cardiff and District DWP PCS branch, said: "We've never had such solid support for strike action and momentum is building.

I've been to meetings in the last week discussing with new reps who have never taken strike action before who have never taken strike action before who were putting on picket lines this morning."

North Staffordshire: support for action

Across North Staffordshire picket lines took place at most PCS workplaces and at Stoke-on-Trent College, but the liveliest one was in Albion Square in the city centre.

Many shoppers getting off buses shouted their support and honked horns to show their support. A woman who seemed very flustered approached the picket line and pointing to two kids with her said: "I support your action.

"I would pay teachers a million pounds if they would look after these pair for just two hours!"

Most schools were either closed or only had a skeleton staff of NASUWT members. Midland News broadcast the mass picket live and we also got coverage on Radio Stoke and the local paper.

About 70 people made the brief march to a rally jointly organised by the PCS North Staffs branch and the National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) Staffordshire.

The rally was chaired by the secretary of CWU North Midlands branch. We had speakers from the NUT, PCS North Staffs branch secretary, CWU Midlands No.7 branch secretary, NSSN Staffordshire, North Staffs TUC, Stoke-on-Trent College UCU and Keele University.

The mood was quite clear among all who attended. We need to turn today's almost one million on strike into four million in the autumn.