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Youth march success

30 November 2009

Well over 1,000 young people took to the streets of London to march for real jobs and free education. YM organiser Tracy Edwards describes what took place.

On Saturday 28th November 2009, the youth fight for jobs campaign held its first national demonstration. PCS young members' network, which fully supports the campaign, attended.
 

John McDonnell from the PCS parliamentary group who supports the campaign said: "This march highlights the plight of the million young people who are now unemployed and the many more who are facing joblessness as a result of this recession, Young people are being forced to pay for the economic crisis whilst bankers award themselves another £5bn in bonuses this month".
 

Starting off in London's west end, the march was colourful and vibrant. Chants like 'Gordon Brown stop the rot, give us what the bankers got!' and 'No ifs, no buts, no public sector cuts!' resulted in many onlookers cheering us on and some even joining us.
 

The press turned up and we were featured on many media outlets, including BBC London and Sky News.
 

Fighting for a future
 

Recent unemployment figures show over 1 million 18-24 year olds are now out of work. This will keep on rising unless proper money and resources are given to reverse this situation. The government is willing to hand over £60billion in secret loans to bail out the banks- why not bail out young people?
 

PCS young members' working in job centres are welll aware of the need for a drastic change in the way young people are treated. As well as enduring some of the worst pay and conditions across the public sector, they are the ones who are under pressure to administer the growing numbers of young people signing on the dole.
 

Rallying call
 

We stopped off at Downing Street to hand in over 10,000 signatures to the Prime Minister (although he wasn't at home!) and finished off at Geraldine Mary Harmsworth Park in Kennington, south London for a the finishing rally. Despite the freezing cold, the majority of the demonstrators stuck around.
 

We heard from students, trade unionists and interational speakers about the need to continue the fight for jobs and the importance of young people standing shoulder to shoulder in defence of the many attacks we will face as we continue to be expected to pay the price for the greedy bankers. The demonstration showed that despite what some elements within the media say - young people are not apathetic or uninterested in politics - they are just fed up with the sleazy, corrupt, Westminister brand of politics.

The demonstration was an expression of how young people can and will make a positive contribution to society. This campaign will continue to grow in the new year. We need as many trade unionists and community campaigners, young and older, to support us and help build a much needed alternative that recognises young people are our future, not our burden.