strikes

With June 30th widely recognised as a strike about cuts as well as pensions, people across the country joined in on the day to show their support and anger. In South London, the aim of generalising the strike was realised through the double fun of critical mass and street party!  The results were tangible, with multiple road blockages giving a jab in the side of the economy whilst public sector workers dealt the right hook of the day.

Download the pdf here.

Job Centre workers in the PCS union are on strike today to defend their pensions, but this is our fight too. The government’s attacks on job centre workers go hand-in-hand with their attacks on claimants. On the one hand they lower the terms and conditions of job centre staff, on the other they force claimants onto privately-run workfare schemes like the Flexible New Deal, through for-profit companies like Maximus, Skills Training and Careers Development Group. Meanwhile they force ill and disabled people off the sick (ESA) and onto Jobseekers Allowance (JSA).

Job Centre workers in the PCS union are on strike today to defend their pensions, but this is our fight too. The government’s attacks on job centre workers go hand-in-hand with their attacks on claimants. On the one hand they lower the terms and conditions of job centre staff, on the other they force claimants onto privately-run workfare schemes like the Flexible New Deal, through for-profit companies like Maximus, Skills Training and Careers Development Group. Meanwhile they force ill and disabled people off the sick (ESA) and onto Jobseekers Allowance (JSA).

The North London Local of the Solidarity Federation would like to extend our fullest solidarity and support to the Guildhall cleaners who are struggling to claim their rightful wages.  Despite the various international backgrounds of the cleaners, they've stood firm and held two days of strikes.

Our bulletin for the June 30th public sector strikes. Including:

• Why should I care about public sector pensions?
• Claimants: today is a strike day
• Disabled people answer June 30 strike call
• Plus: a map of pickets and demonstrations in Brighton (see our online map here)

Download as a pdf (double-sided A4).

Bulletin for the June 30th public sector strikes - Why care about public sector pensions? (2011)

The past week has seen NLSF participate in two “distros”: handing out fliers, badges, and stickers in support of June 30th's public sector strike and giving out free copies of SolFed's national newspaper Catalyst.

Although we certainly hope to attract like-minded militants to our organisation, the overriding aims were practical: to promote the upcoming strike, inform the public of practical ways to participate and show support, to counter the government and media spin about the strike, and to argue for militant, self-organised acts of solidarity and struggle from across the working class. To this end, we gave out various fliers (see the right-hand side of NLSF webpage) and copies of the newest issue of Catalyst. When interested individuals stopped for a chat, we gladly offered them “Don't Work June 30th” stickers and various anti-cuts badges.

An EWN leaflet designed to be given out in the run-up to J30 or on picket lines on the day.

View J30 Brighton in a larger map

This map shows all the school closures, picket lines and demonstrations planned for the June 30th co-ordinated strikes in Brighton. It is a work in progress - please comment below if you spot any errors or have any additions! We will also be adding the planned route of the demonstration once we have spoken to the organisers. Parents may find the following information (via the RMT union) helpful - and if you are taking the day off to look after the kids, why not join the demonstration at 10:30 at the Level to show your support for the strikes?