Reports are coming in of standing room only at the rally in Exeter called to support the attack on Public Sector Pensions.
Over 800 marched to Belmont Park to the supporting cheers of shoppers. One of the loudest cheers when up at the rally when UCU member, Jim Thomson, called an all-out Public General Strike. This is one of the biggest Trade Union rallies and demonstration in Exeter for a generation.
There were 149 schools closed in Devon. Dawlish Community School was closed. Teignmouth Community School very cleverly had an ‘inset day’ – it would not be a good idea to have children infected by seeing their teachers going on strike.
Reports from around the country are confirming that there are widespread condemations of the Labour leader’s refusal to back or support the strike – indeed the day began on BBC Radio Four with a series of Labour figures such as Kim Howells refusing to back the strike. This was followed later by Boris Johnson discussion the possible introduction of further restrictions on Trade Union rights which are already the most draconian and undemocratic in Europe.
The Coalition government are back-tracking on the notion of Public Sector Pensions being ‘unaffordable’ since the Hutton Report shows a falling cost and instead are saying they are ‘untenable’.
They stand accused of wanting pensions to be part of the ‘race to the bottom’ as wages and income fall by the greatest amount since 1978. The continual closure of stores such as Habitat, Thorntons, Jane Norman etc are a testament to the collapse of confidence among consumers.
Predictions are that there will be a Public Sector strike of even larger proportions in October.
(image: This image was taken from the Geograph project collection. See this photograph’s page on the Geograph website for the photographer’s contact details. The copyright on this image is owned by Derek Harper and is licensed for reuse under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0 license.)
Come and enjoy Devon – book a hotel and get away!
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