Mainly young, mainly female and all determined to fight for their pensions

There was plenty of excitement in Wembley this morning and it was nothing to do with Take That's appearance at the Stadium over the next few days.  Striking teachers and other public sector workers thronged the Torch pub in preparation for the march and rally in Central London,  The mainly young and mainly female workers were often striking for the first time and there was no mistaking their fervour and commitment.

There were some brief speeches before the crowd boarded the tube for Central London and one of the key messages was that the strike was not just about pensions but about the whole  Coalition Government's assault on the welfare state. Gains that had been made as a result of the post-war settlement were under attack and had to be defended.

Brent Labour councillors Helga Gladbaum and Pat Harrison dropped by to offer their solidarity and ex-MP for Brent South, Dawn Butler mingled with the strikers. Shahrar Ali offered support from Brent Green Party.

'Lesson preparation' on the Torch's verandah

Waterloo Road's Grouch adds his support

Determined  teachers from Kensal Rise Primary in the front row

Brent NUT, ATL and Fightback marched together in unity

We will Rise

Caroline Lucas: "I'll be on the picket line tomorrow"

Commenting ahead of the public sector strikes across the country tomorrow, Brighton Pavilion MP and leader of the Green party of England and Wales, Caroline Lucas, said:

“Many teachers and other public sector workers have contacted me over the past week to express hope that striking wouldn't be necessary – that the Prime Minister would start taking their pension concerns seriously. Sadly the Coalition Government’s relentless attack on this country’s public servants has left them with no choice.

“We know that public sector pensions are affordable – this is really about piling the UK’s debt burden onto the people who did the least to create it. I believe that fair pensions are worth fighting for, so I will be joining the picket lines in solidarity with my constituents who have been abandoned by the other main Westminster parties. 

“This isn’'t something I do lightly. I regret the disruption caused by industrial action and think it must only be used in special circumstances – and would urge trade unions to work hard to ensure support from the wider public.

“Yet when teachers are being expected to pay 50% more in pension contributions, work longer and get less pension when they retire – and when negotiations are failing – targeted and considered action is clearly necessary.”

Brent Schools Closed Tomorrow

Tomorrow's strike is looking pretty solid in Brent Schools. The Willesden and Brent Times published the following list this evening:

According to a list compiled by Brent Schools more than 460 teachers from across the borough will take part in the protests.

Out of the 78 Brent schools, 36 will be completely closed, 28 will be partially closed with 14 defying walk outs to stay open.

The following primary schools have confirmed they will be closed during the strike Anson Primary, Barham Primary, Chalkhill Primary, Christ Church CofE Primary, Convent of Jesus & Mary Infant, Donnington Primary, Furness Primary, Gladstone Park Primary, Kilburn Park School Foundation, Malorees Infant and Junoir, Michael Sobell Sinai Primary, Mitchell Brook Primary, Mora Primary, Oakington Manor Primary, Our Lady of Grace Junior Primary, Our Lady of Grace RC Infant, Park Lane Primary, St Joseph’s RC Infant Primary, St Joseph’s RC Junior Primary, St Joseph’s RC Primary (NW10), St Mary Magdalen’s RC Primary, St Mary’s CofE Primary, St Mary’s RC Primary, Stonebridge Primary.

The following special schools have confirmed they will be closed during the strike The Village School Manor and Woodfield.

The following secondary schools have confirmed they will be closed during the strike Capital City Academy, Claremont High, Newman Catholic College, Preston Manor High, Queen’s Park Community.

The following primary schools have confirmed they will be partially closed during the strike Braintcroft Primary, Byron Court Primary, Carlton Vale Infant Primary, Elsley Primary, Fryent Primary, Harlesden Primary, Kensal Rise Primary, Lyon Park Infant, Mount Stewart Junior, Northview Primary, Oliver Goldsmith Primary, Our Lady of Lourdes Primary, Preston Park Primary, Roe Green Infant Primary, Roe Green Junior Primary, Salusbury Primary, St Andrew & St Francis CE Primary, St Robert Southwell Primary, Sudbury Primary.

The following secondary schools have confirmed they will be partially closed during the strike Alperton Community Stanley Avenue, Convent of Jesus & Mary High, JFS, Crest Boys Academy, Crest Girls Academy, Kingsbury High, St Gregory’s Catholic Science College, and Copland Community School.

At the time this newspaper went to press the following primary schools have confirmed they will remain open during the strike Avigdor Hirsch Torah Temimah, Brentfield Primary, Islamia Primary, John Keble CofE Primary, Kingsbury Green Primary, Leopold Primary, Mount Stewart Infant, Newfield Primary, Princess Frederica CofE Primary, St Margaret Clitherow RC Primary, Uxendon Manor Primary.

At the time this newspaper went to press Vernon House special school confirmed they would remain open during the strike.

At the time this newspaper went to press Alperton Community Ealing Road secondary school confirmed they would remain open during the strike.

The Torch of Workers' Solidarity

Strikers from public service unions and their supporters will be meeting at The Torch pub tomorrow morning at 9.30am for a rally before travelling to central London  The Torch is in Wembley Park opposite the Ark Academy, on the corner of Bridge Road and Forty Lane.

The Green Party Trades Union Group has issued the following statement:

GPTU calls on all its members and all Green Party members to suppot the strikers of UCU, ATL,NUT and PCS in the pensions strike tomorrow. We have posted a message from Sally Hunt of UCU on the GPTU blog which explains that, contrary to media myth, public sector pensions are hardly generous. These pensions are in any case a slight compensation for the low salaries of the public sector where many workers do their work out of a sense of public service. Why should these workers pay with their pensions for a crisis of international finance? 

More Library Legal Fund Events Coming Up

A message from Brent SOS Libraries who have £15,000 left to raise for their legal action against Brent Council.

• Open Garden Party on Sunday, 3 July 3-6pm  at 121 Anson Road NW2  £5 (Nearest station: Willesden Green / Cricklewood) further details from Graham Durham grahamdurham@hotmail.com or at http://www.savekensalriselibrary.org/category/events/

• a second Preston Pub Quiz on Monday, 4 July , 7.30 for 8pm start. £5/3.

• Meeting with the writer Philip Pullman on 20 July, 7pm at Queens Park Community School. £10. More details later. 

Poem: For the People

Unison commissioned Tony Walsh, poet in residence at the Glastonbury Festival, to write a poem for the public services. His poem FOR THE PEOPLE can be found HERE

Strike for quality journalism

Local newspapers are under pressure because of a decline in advertising and readership as well as because of competition from the internet. However when publishers make cuts this often reinforces the decline with fewer journalists meaning less time for investigations and a tendency to do cut and paste jobs on press releases. Some newspapers end up padded out with stories from neighbouring areas rather than the their own borough.

I am convinced that a robust and active local press is absolutely necessary to hold the local council to account as well as providing a focus that cements local community solidarity.

Newsquest publishes the Harrow Times and Newsquest journalists in South London are to strike again this week in their continuing dispute over redundancies and in support of quality local journalism. Unlike some local newspapers the titles concerned are in profit.

The strike began on  Monday June 27 and is due to end at midnight on Thursday June 30.

NUJ negotiator Jenny Lennox said: “We’ve had a very successful two-day strike last week, and it is worth noting that a dozen journalists have joined the union since the dispute began. This reflects the deep anger which journalists employed by Newsquest at their bosses’ determination to avoid consulting with staff on the future of their papers.”

The NUJ strikers had previously adopted a unanimous vote of no confidence in their top management after a company decision to make an unspecified number of editorial staff redundant while the group’s titles continue to make substantial profits.

The strikers keep journalists and readers informed of developments through a special strike blog

The journalists deserve our support.