Evening everyone,
Yesterday I went down to London on a coach to be a part of the TUC Britain Needs a Pay Rise demonstration.* On the coach journey I was taught a great deal about the potential causes for concern that academies represent and a few neat points about history. None of specifically related to Britain needing a pay rise but primary schools being turned into for-profit organisations did not seem too grand.
I wondered whether temps even had unions and with whom I would be marching alongside. I ended up marching alongside the National Union of Teachers and with The Woodcraft Folk. Despite being a temp and not a part of any particular union they were happy for me to be there so that took a weight off of my chest.
The march (from where I was located) started from Cleopatra's Needle. There were so many people. I felt somewhat lost as the last march I went on was in Aberystwyth and did not consist of so many people. Thankfully I made some friends on the coach and they kindly accepted my request to stick by them. I also offered to carry a big drum case, 'cause I dislike feeling useless.
During the march I wandered off to have a look around. There was a strong police presence and near the police where people from an organisation called Liberty. They were observers and the function of the observers was to ensure that the police did not overstep their mark. Over then the occasional stops so we did not fall over one another like the Elephants from The Jungle Book, the march went off without a fault.
A few odd moments were when people shouted pay your taxes at Vodafone and Starbucks. This struck me as odd because the person inside was probably just some bog standard retail clerk, paid next to nothing and has no say in the management of those companies. So whilst people felt they were screaming at the company, they were just buggering up some poor (literally poor) sod's day. Today it is business as usual for that store anyway.
After passing through that street and away from the Starbucks we all turned a corner and marched onwards towards Hyde Park. Whilst en route to the park I noticed that a lot of people kept trying to sell me things. My lack of funds made saying "No" pretty easy.
Hyde Park itself just felt like a field. So many people present, police barely noticeable and in the distance were some ruddy great big T.V screens and a stage. Listening to the speakers was great and like the nerd that I am, I pulled out my notebook and scribbled down some notes.
*(I did not think I would be going as the trains are expensive and I work as a temp so my wages are kinda crap. However local unions had organised a coach to go. It only cost me £5 to get there.)
Yesterday I went down to London on a coach to be a part of the TUC Britain Needs a Pay Rise demonstration.* On the coach journey I was taught a great deal about the potential causes for concern that academies represent and a few neat points about history. None of specifically related to Britain needing a pay rise but primary schools being turned into for-profit organisations did not seem too grand.
I wondered whether temps even had unions and with whom I would be marching alongside. I ended up marching alongside the National Union of Teachers and with The Woodcraft Folk. Despite being a temp and not a part of any particular union they were happy for me to be there so that took a weight off of my chest.
The march (from where I was located) started from Cleopatra's Needle. There were so many people. I felt somewhat lost as the last march I went on was in Aberystwyth and did not consist of so many people. Thankfully I made some friends on the coach and they kindly accepted my request to stick by them. I also offered to carry a big drum case, 'cause I dislike feeling useless.
During the march I wandered off to have a look around. There was a strong police presence and near the police where people from an organisation called Liberty. They were observers and the function of the observers was to ensure that the police did not overstep their mark. Over then the occasional stops so we did not fall over one another like the Elephants from The Jungle Book, the march went off without a fault.
A few odd moments were when people shouted pay your taxes at Vodafone and Starbucks. This struck me as odd because the person inside was probably just some bog standard retail clerk, paid next to nothing and has no say in the management of those companies. So whilst people felt they were screaming at the company, they were just buggering up some poor (literally poor) sod's day. Today it is business as usual for that store anyway.
After passing through that street and away from the Starbucks we all turned a corner and marched onwards towards Hyde Park. Whilst en route to the park I noticed that a lot of people kept trying to sell me things. My lack of funds made saying "No" pretty easy.
Hyde Park itself just felt like a field. So many people present, police barely noticeable and in the distance were some ruddy great big T.V screens and a stage. Listening to the speakers was great and like the nerd that I am, I pulled out my notebook and scribbled down some notes.
- Increasing number of families are relying on foodbanks.
- More working families are being pushed into poverty.
- There are essentially two welfare states
- For the workers
- Another for corporations. I am aware that my previous employer received money from the Government for employing me and prior to my employment for reasons unknown to myself. - In March 2014 over 5 million workers were earning below £6.50
- Currently 6.7m people in the U.K live in poverty.
- The current apathy that exists enables our leaders to dismantle the welfare state.
- Not all politicians are the same.
- Financial prudence is important but holding onto the values of our society is important as well.
Then Andy Parsons introduced Harry Leslie Smith and Harry's stories about his life almost had me in tears. I know that the only reason as to my family never endured the bitter cold or the hunger or had to experience the terror of losing a sibling to illness like Mr Smith did, is because of the Welfare State.
If you have been reading my blogs for a while then you should know that Britain's Welfare State covers more than the JSA. The Welfare state represents the ideals of free education, free healthcare, care for the elderly and the disabled, the promotion of equality and the promotion of the social as well as economic well-being of the people. I was informed by one retired teacher that it also once included social housing for teachers, this enabled him to remain within a city whilst not being bled dry by the high cost of rent. That has gone!
The Welfare State is being dismantled because not enough of us are fighting for it.
Seán McGovern pointed out that we should not "fall into the trap" as any one of us is potentially disabled. When scum like Lord Freud talk about having disabled people earn £2, such words represent an attack upon the Welfare State. Women are still fighting for equal pay. certain apprentices only make £2.68 an hour!!!!
A fair few speakers pointed out that if you are not earning enough to live, if you are not earning enough for you to save for a future, then you are essentially paying to work. You are being exploited. (Over half my monthly wage from my old job went straight onto rent/council tax/bills, half of what was left went towards paying off my overdraft and I had less then £50 left for my own personal use. To say that the speaker's word stirred my heart would be an understatement.)
Those present at the demo were told that to find another period in British history where wages had stagnated for so long, you would have to look back at the 1870's. I think that the only reason why people have tolerated their exploitation for so long is because they are feel so stressed and isolated by their financial plight. Turns out over 50% of the population is in the same sort of trouble. We need to start talking, we need to start pushing for change because those wages aren't going to push themselves higher are they?
My last boss told me that I had a better chance of winning the lottery than receiving a pay review. Then when I left suddenly things had the chance to change but when you've made the step to leave a place because your pay is so crap that it's basically ruining you...well it's a no brainer. Truth is that people should be paid a living wage anyway and we need to start making our politicians known that this is what we need.
One union leader said that we should push for a £10 minimum wage, especially when you consider that there are people out there in some corporations making £1000+ an hour whilst their workers in warehouses do the physical work that brings in the actual money.
Plus if sociology taught me one thing, poor people spend their money. It is one of the defining reasons as to why they are poor. Their money is spent in the local community, not invested in stocks or shares or plunged into some off-shore tax haven. Workers need a raise, it would stimulate the economy to no end as Britain is a service based economy and there is literally no reason for us to continue in relative poverty.
We have every right to be angry as the economy may have improved but it has not improved for the nurses, the midwives, the teachers, the shop staff, for civil servants, for the temps or workers in warehouses. Basically Britain is buggered unless it's people start getting a fair wage. A hard days work no longer pays.
The one thing that did blow me away was that so many people evidently give a damn.
So many young, old, middle aged and even retired people feel so strongly about this that 90,000 people marched. Some travelled from Aberystwyth on a coach that left at 3am (According to a mate), some travelled from the furthest reaches of the U.K to make their voices heard.
I feel we can do this. We can campaign. We can demand that political parties like Labour and the Greens hear our demands and push for it in the next election. Employers should hopefully be aware that we're pissed off about this current state of affairs.
We shouldered the bank bail outs. we sacrificed Sure Start nurseries for the sake of cutting the deficit. The least they could do is give us a decent wage. With a fairer wage we would be able to put money back into local communities ourselves after Whitehall and the local councils have suctioned all the funding out. Fewer working class families would be dependant upon food banks and housing benefit. I wouldn't have to sign on to protect my ass from rent bleeding me dry whilst I work as a temp.
Long story short:
Britain needs a pay rise. Together we can make this happen.
Check out http://britainneedsapayrise.org for more information.
Check out http://britainneedsapayrise.org for more information.
Cheers for reading
Bailey
*(I did not think I would be going as the trains are expensive and I work as a temp so my wages are kinda crap. However local unions had organised a coach to go. It only cost me £5 to get there.)
