Strong support for strike action as sun shines on picket lines
30 June 2011
UCU said this morning that strike action by its members in further education colleges and 'post-92' universities* was starting to have an impact with strong picket lines reported across England and Wales.
Early morning sunshine across most parts of England and Wales no doubt helped encourage UCU members on to picket lines from 7.30am this morning before they will head off to a series of rallies. A full list of the nationwide protests can be found at www.ucu.org.uk/30june and you can keep up with all the action and view reports and photographs from picket lines and rallies at www.ucu.org.uk/action2011live
The main event in central London is a march from Lincoln's Inn Field to Westminster. Protestors will assemble at Lincoln's Inn Fields from 11am and the march will set off at 11.40am. The route will take them down Kingsway, along the Strand, down Whitehall and across Parliament Square to Central Hall Westminster for a rally.
The Central Hall Westminster rally will start at around 1.15pm where UCU general secretary, Sally Hunt, will tell protestors that Nick Clegg must apologise for his 'gold-plated' pensions jibe. She will say that she is fighting for dignity in old age and that dignity should not be restricted to the public sector, or even just politicians.
She will remind crowds that the average pension of a female college lecturer is just £6,000 and that in the first year of the coalition government the income of the richest 1,000 people in the country grew by 18%. She will say that the government has no right to preach about fairness. The full speech is at the bottom of the release.
Selected regional events:
- Exeter - TUC general secretary, Brendan Barber, will address protestors an 11am rally at the Corn Exchange. There will then be a march to Belmont Park for a music festival, led by Billy Bragg, from 1pm.
- Bristol- Protestors from Bristol and Bath will assemble outside College Green at 10.30am and march to Castle Green for a rally at 12noon.
- Oxford - Protestors will assemble at Oxford Town Hall on Pembroke Street at 1.30pm and march through the city centre to Bonn Square for a 2.30pm rally.
- Birmingham - Protestors from across the west midlands will meet in Victoria Square for a rally at 12noon.
- Nottingham- Protestors will assemble outside Forest Recreation Ground at 11.30am before marching to Trinity Square for a rally at 12noon. At 1pm there will be a meeting at the Albert Hall on North Circus Street.
- Liverpool - Protestors will assemble at the top of William Brown Street at 11.30am and march to the Black-E arts centre on Great George Street for a rally at 12.30pm.
- Manchester - Protestors will meet at 11am at All Saints Park on Oxford Road and march to the Castlefield Arena for a rally at 12.30pm.
- Newcastle- Protestors from across the north east will assemble at the Centre for Life in Times Square and march through the city centre to Grey's Monument for a rally at 12.30pm.
* Only UCU members in the newer 'post-92' universities have been balloted for strike action. UCU members in the traditional 'pre-92 universities are members of a different pension scheme that is not part of the government talks. UCU members at 350 further education colleges and 75 universities are taking action today.
Clegg must apologise for gold-plated pensions jibe, Sally Hunt will tell crowd
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