23 October march against cuts: RMT calls London demo

Steve Hedley, London Regional Organiser, RMT, photo by Socialist Party

Steve Hedley, London Regional Organiser, RMT, photo by Socialist Party

The London Transport region of the RMT has called a march to support the TUC anti-cuts meeting on Tottenham Court Road.

Steve Hedley, RMT London regional organiser

We’ve got industrial action going on in London Underground. Now they’re threatening to sack all the London firefighters. Royal Mail could be privatised.

This march is being supported by the London regions of the fire brigades union, the civil service union, the teachers’ union and several others.

We’re formally inviting all the London regions of the other trade unions to get involved.

This is going to be a national thing in the end but it’s important that we get the ball rolling in London. We can’t sit back and wait for things to develop nationally. We’ve got to start pushing things in London.

We’re very glad that the TUC has passed a policy of coordinated strike action against these proposed cuts but in order to ensure that that policy becomes a reality we’ve got to organise everywhere and the London region is going to try to be to the forefront of that.

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, addresses National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) lobby of TUC conference in Manchester 2010, photo Suleyman Civi

Bob Crow, RMT general secretary, addresses National Shop Stewards Network (NSSN) lobby of TUC conference in Manchester 2010, photo Suleyman Civi   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

It is essential that we unite to fight the government’s planned cuts in the public sector of between 25% and 40% across departments.

We can’t get into a situation, which we had in the 1980s, where the Conservatives picked off the unions one by one, the steel workers, the miners. We’ve got to fight this on a united basis.

Please do your best to attend to fight the vicious Con-Dem cuts of between 25% and 40% to jobs and public services.

We need hundreds of trade unionists and public sector workers and young people there to show that we will not pay with our jobs for the bankers’ crisis whilst the culprits reward themselves with huge bonuses.

March from Unity House, 39 Chalton Street, Euston, London NW1 1JD at 11am, Saturday 23 October


PDF Leaflet: www.socialistparty.org.uk/txt/171.pdf

Letter: Support the London demonstration against cuts on Saturday October 23