Show Jarrow marchers your support

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PCS Comment

12 October 2011

The New Jarrow March is in to its second week attracting support from a wide range of trade unionists and community groups.

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics published today show that the unemployment level and rate for people aged from 16 to 24 are the highest since comparable records began in 1992, increaing by 74,000 over the quarter to reach 991,000. The media across the UK has been chronicling the stories of those taking part on the 330-mile trek – organised by Youth Fight for Jobs and supported by unions including PCS – which began in Jarrow Park on 1 October and ends with a national demonstration and rally in London on 5 November. The marchers are demanding:

A massive government scheme to create jobs which are socially useful and apprenticeships which offer guaranteed jobs at the end – both paying at least the minimum wage, with no youth exemptions
The immediate reinstatement of Education Maintenance Allowance payments, expanding them to be available to all 16-19-year-olds
The immediate reopening of all youth services that have been closed, including reinstating sacked staff
The scrapping of ‘workfare’ schemes – benefits should be based on need not forced slave labour
A massive building programme of environmentally-sound, cheap social housing.

You can show the marchers your support this week, on Wednesday they are walking between Barnsley and Sheffield and one of them will be speaking at a Sheffield Anti-cuts Alliance meeting at 7pm. The following day they travel from Sheffield to Chesterfield and there is a rally at 2.45pm at Chesterfield market place and on Friday they go from Chesterfield to Nottingham with rallies at Shirebrook market place at 12.15pm and 2.30pm at Mansfield market place.

This weekend there is a demonstration going through Nottingham on Saturday, assembling at Forest Recreation Ground at 1pm and on Sunday marchers walk from Nottingham to Loughborough, with a rally at Loughborough market place at 3.30pm.

Click here for more details.

Public and Commercial Services Union