Nuneaton YFJ protest outside MP's office

Nuneaton YFJ protest outside MP’s office   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

Nuneaton students demand proper wages and hours

After weeks of preparation, young members of Nuneaton Socialist Party led a student protest outside the local office of Tory MP Marcus Jones. The protest was part of the Youth Fight for Jobs campaign and proved quite popular amongst young people in Nuneaton with a good turnout for the protest and a lot of support from others.

Whilst we were outside protesting against exploitative zero-hour contracts and Tory cuts to youth services, the MP invited us in to discuss points we were raising. Although this was probably just a bid to get us to move on, we explained our fair demands for a proper wage for proper working hours as well as an increase in job opportunities for young people.

Nuneaton YFJ protest in town centre

Nuneaton YFJ protest in town centre   (Click to enlarge: opens in new window)

After this success we moved on and marched around the town centre shouting out for fair pay and work hours, sometimes personalising our demands to separate shops as we walked past, all of which took passers-by by surprise as well as capturing their imagination as they showed their support.

Throughout the march we gained supporters as they followed us for a few minutes and joined in with the chanting, a sign that better employment opportunities and a scrapping of zero-hour contracts are ideas that are very popular.

This protest has already led to more interest in Nuneaton Socialist Party from students, as they’ve come to realise that we fight for them and stand up for their beliefs.

Aidan O’Toole

This version of this article was first posted on the Socialist Party website on 24 February 2014 and may vary slightly from the version subsequently printed in The Socialist.