Chelmsford: stop the racist EDL
In Chelmsford, on Saturday 18 August, 400 trade unionists, socialists and other anti-racist campaigners marched around Chelmsford town square in protest at the English Defence League presence in the town that day. Unusually the police allowed the counter-demo to march around the city rather than force it to be a static protest.
At the pre-demo rally a message from Rob Williams, chair of the National Shop Stewards Network was read out, that explained the need to link the struggle against racism to fighting for jobs, homes and services for all.
Sean Figg
Bring back EMA
On 18 August, Youth Fight for Jobs activists gathered signatures for a petition to be presented to York council in favour of bringing back Education Maintenance Allowance payments, stopped by the Con-Dem government.
The petition had an overwhelmingly positive response, not exclusively from young people – with teachers and workers also getting involved and expressing their anger at the cuts implemented by government.
Samantha Fawcett
March For A Future
With Northern Ireland youth unemployment at a 16-year high, Youth Fight for Jobs is organising a March For A Future in Belfast on Saturday 29 September. The march will commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Outdoor Relief Strike and highlight the parallels with the situation facing young people today. The march will begin from Custom House Square – where the strike was called – and finish with a rally at City Hall.
Leeds Pussy Riot solidarity
Dressed in brightly coloured balaclavas, woolly stockings and costumes inspired by Pussy Riot, over 200 people gathered in Leeds city centre to protest at the treatment of the punk group in Russia.
Inspired by the punk group’s protests in defence of women’s and LGBT rights, the protesters also spoke out against recent homophobic comments by a local pub owner, protesting outside two of the landlord’s pubs.
