A Leeds Against the Cuts public meeting during the build-up to the 30 November strike action saw a resolute and defiant mood as people agreed the government’s plans were a daylight robbery of pensions.
But discussion around 30 November was not just about pensions, but also about opposing all cuts. In showing solidarity with the Jarrow March 2011 (see pages 6 and 7), chair Laura Miles highlighted the real threat the government is posing to our livelihoods and welfare in its attacks on the public sector.
CWU speaker Ryan Chase stated he would not be alive without the NHS. Jarrow marcher Stephanie Maston explained how this retirement age increase, coupled with cuts on education, was placing serious roadblocks in front of her in becoming a physics teacher.
Some workers worry about the effects of losing pay if they go on strike. But a CWU representative belted from the audience that the government would take “one day’s pay off your salary every month” in pension cuts and that “the services that our parents and grandparents fought for will go”.
