London: building for a youth day of action
Sofia Pandolfi, South East London Socialist Party
This Saturday, 20 June, young socialists in London are organising a day of action across the city. Amidst the growing crisis faced by young people, the need to take action is clear. Growing up under austerity and seeing our governments invest in wars rather than our public services, has fuelled our anger at the politicians and parties which offer us no hope for the future.
Whether you are a student faced with increased tuition fees for an underfunded education, a young worker in an underpaid job, or one of the over 1 million experiencing unemployment, we face the bleak reality of living under this capitalist system. Having recently finished college, I understand the fear amongst young people at the lack of good jobs and opportunities that awaits us.
By getting organised, we can take this fear and anger to fight for our futures, uniting the struggles of young workers and students for opportunities, education, and services that are not sacrificed for profit.
Joining our youth day of action is a first step to discuss how we can fight for this change. In building for the youth day of action over the past weeks, it’s been clear that there is a mood for young people desperate for an alternative. But none of the main parties offer us any real alternative, including Reform, whose anti-migrant rhetoric does not address the real reasons why young people cannot find a job or decent housing.
Many young people feel frustrated. Many will also feel hopeful that where Greens have taken control of councils in London they will mount a fight against austerity. We are pushing for Green councillors to use all the powers they have to begin implementing rent controls, expand youth services and more.
Until now, Green councillors haven’t done that, and argued that councils have to live within their means. We say, set needs-based budgets and make the super-rich pay. Don’t accept the rules of the system. We need to fight for socialist change. Join our day of action to campaign for the funded education and services we need and to discuss how we can take action for socialist change.
Wales: demand decent jobs and decent pay!
Rhys Castley, Swansea and West Wales Socialist Party
Young people are constantly under attack – sky-high rents, tens of thousands of pounds in tuition fees, no job opportunities, criminally low wages and horrendous working conditions. And now young people are increasingly fed up and angry at the lack of a future and the total lack of concern for our generation from capitalist parties. It is becoming increasingly clear that there is no future for us under capitalism – a system which creates the world’s first trillionaire while nearly a third of children in Wales face poverty.
We set up in Swansea city centre to push the need to organise and fightback against these horrendous conditions. We gave out over a hundred leaflets to young people and parents alike. We heard nothing but frustration and anger at the conditions we face today. One young person we spoke to left uni with upwards of £40,000 debt and no hope of finding any job, let alone one in their field. A Burger King worker told us of how the kitchen got to nearly 40oC during the heat wave. Management bought fans for the office, but not for the workers who suffered through that heat in the kitchen! There was also a college student who is paid only just over £8 an hour to clean up disgusting pub toilets late at night.
Everyone we spoke to was eager for a way to fight back for a future and to demand the government – Westminster and the Senedd alike – commit to providing more jobs, apprenticeships, education opportunities and an end to tuition fees, as well as a minimum wage of at least £15 an hour and the abolition of youth rates. Plaid Cymru and Greens are claiming to be acting in the interests of workers and young people but now it is time for them to prove it and commit to these demands.
Essex: Building Socialist Students at Harlow College
Alfie Liddle, Essex Socialist Party
Harlow College has one Socialist Students member, but that might not be the case for long! Four Socialist Party members helped me to campaign outside college on 8 June.
We started 45 minutes before classes officially ended, and a good number of the students trickling out of the gate early were taking our leaflets.
Things were going well until a member of staff came out to tell us to move on, despite us being on public property. We remained where we were, as we had the right, however they returned ten minutes later threatening to contact their ‘police liaison officer’.
After a few minutes of a calm back and forth with the staff member about where we had the right to set up, we ultimately agreed to move to the other side of the dual carriageway, opposite the controlled crossing. The majority of students would be heading that way to go into Harlow town centre anyway.
This stall was set up at the beginning of the last week of the academic year, so the college didn’t have the full number of students it usually had, various courses finished early. However, we managed to attract a decent number of students to our stall. We even managed to sell a few copies of the Socialist too. One student bought the Socialist for the £2 solidarity price and gave us a £3 donation.
During the two hours of leafleting and campaigning over a span of two weeks, we managed to meet 11 students who have expressed an interest in helping to set up a Socialist Students group. This level of success, considering the poor weather, us being moved, and the low amount of students at college this time, gives us great confidence and optimism going forward!
