SUPPORTING PUBLIC SECTOR WORKERS

Two million people went on strike this week due to the Tory-led Government's pension plans.  Labour Students and Young Labour members across the country supported them.
 
To show my support for public sector workers, I joined 20,000 others on the march in London.  I marched alongside university Labour clubs, London Young Labour and young trade unionists.
 
It was great to see so many Labour clubs represented at the march, includingUCL, Goldsmiths, LSE and SOAS.  Labour Students acrossBritain also marched in their home cities, includingEdinburgh,Swansea andCambridge.  The day of protest saw students standing up for their teachers, lecturers and all those in the public sector who are so crucial to keeping our society moving - those who will have to pay more into their pensions pots yet receive less under Tory proposals.

Pensions may not seem like an immediate concern for many students, but we will be pensioners one day and we need to stand up for what is fair.  While the Government’s pension plans may not affect all of us in the short-term, they do affect those around us and it was for those people that we marched.

The Government’s proposals for pensions, along with many of their other proposals, will have a disproportionate impact on women.  Two thirds of public service workers are women and UNISON believes that 3.7 million women could be affected by the Government’s plans.  These plans are clearly unfair and it’s time the Government realised that.

I’m proud that Labour Students and Young Labour members everywhere chose to support this day of action and send a message to the Government.  The Government needs to reassess its plans, negotiate meaningfully with trade unions and come up with a fairer deal for the public sector workers that do so much for our country.  People deserve decent pensions.

Bex Bailey, Labour Students' London Co-ordinator and Vice Chair of Young Labour