Putting unemployed youth on the map

Youth Fight for Jobs and the Jarrow march

Ben Robinson, Socialist Party (CWI England & Wales)

THE 2011 recreation of the Jarrow march was perfectly timed. Coming on the 75th anniversary of the original march, it occurred in between the biggest riots in recent British history, and the youth unemployment figures topping one million for the first time since 1994. The riots showed the deep-seated anger that exists towards the future this system is offering young people – but also showed a lack of an organised alternative or directed political action. More than just highlighting the problem, Youth Fight for Jobs helped to highlight an alternative. Together with Occupy London Stock Exchange and the buildup to the 30 November strikes, the Jarrow march helped to bring the ideas of struggle and anti-capitalism into daily conversation for millions in Britain.

The march received daily coverage in the mass media, including a feature on BBC television’s One Show, numerous interviews on Sky News, regional and local coverage on the television, radio and press, alongside internet reporting. It has made Youth Fight for Jobs the go-to people for comment on youth unemployment, with Paul Callanan interviewed for the Sunday Mirror on 20 October and appearing on Radio 5 Live, and Ian Pattison appearing on Newsnight. Alongside Youth Fight for Jobs, it has also allowed the Socialist Party – a key backer of the campaign – to reach a greater level of prominence.

All this reaped immediate rewards for the campaign and the labour movement as a whole. In Hull, for example, sacked British Aerospace workers joined the planned protest in a 700-strong march which was a practical demonstration of workers in struggle and unemployed young people uniting in protest. Throughout the march, a number of areas saw some of the biggest meetings in recent years, laying the basis for anti-cuts and Youth Fight for Jobs groups. It allowed space for debate on the real issues on how to take the movement forwards. And it raised questions around the political role of trade unions, what alternative New Labour offers, and whether it is possible to defeat cuts and solve youth unemployment.

These questions are key. Famously, the original Jarrow ‘crusade’ was led by Eileen Wilkinson, Labour MP, accompanied by representatives from the parliamentary parties, including the Conservatives. This was in itself partially an attempt to undercut the more radical National Unemployed Workers Movement, in which the Communist Party of Great Britain played a leading role. Both Labour and the CP were mass workers’ parties, with huge support from the trade unions. Today, there is no organised political voice of the working class or young people. This absence holds back the development of political campaigns, including those around youth unemployment. The Unite union has recently launched a community membership section for unemployed people and students: if this is seriously developed by the union leadership it could be very important.

During the course of the march, the absence of a political alternative was reaffirmed. It was a recognition of the importance of the march that several MPs came out to greet it, and we were able to take the fight to both Iain Duncan Smith, work and pensions minister, and Chris Grayling, employment minister, on Sky News and through a parliamentary debate. Sneers and smears were to be expected from the Conservative Party and its friends in the press, and the attacks by Tory MP, Robert Goodwill, were worn as a badge of honour by marchers.

In a number of areas, the Labour Party provided hospitality for the marchers, including in Durham where the council paid for accommodation and a social venue. Yet not one councillor came down to discuss with the marchers! From Jarrow to London, marchers met one councillor who was prepared to vote against all cuts, and had serious discussions with some of the Labour group in Hatfield. A number of Labour MPs attempted to repeat Ed Miliband’s stance that cuts were necessary and that a programme of mass job creation was out of the question. Crucially, of the tens of thousands of young people that the march met, none were looking to join New Labour to reclaim it.

November’s unemployment figures show that over a million young people are unemployed in Britain today. But these figures cover a complex variety of situations. Included are students looking for a job to help pay their living costs, carers looking for part-time work, etc. But the majority of young unemployed are periodically able to find temporary or agency work, and are in a cycle of low-paid work and unemployment. Of the one million, 560,000 have been unemployed more than six months and 89,000 more than a year. There is also a wide variation on a national level. Youth unemployment in the north was already high, and has increased significantly. But in parts of the south, unemployment has gone from being virtually non-existent to affecting large sections of the population.

Youth Fight for Jobs Jarrow March 2011 arrives in Coventry, photo by Lenny Shail

Growing up in an age where a steady job was becoming increasingly hard to find, this cycle of worklessness is something which young people are acclimatised to. Temporary Christmas jobs may well see youth unemployment figures dip below one million in the new year, and then quickly rise again. The huge increase in agency work, retail and services replacing industry, and the legacy of Thatcher’s assaults on the union movement, have all served to lower young people’s expectations of what a job can mean. This is especially the case in black and Asian communities where institutional racism has meant that there has always been a high percentage out of work. In May 2008, before the economic crisis, youth unemployment stood at 684,000.

This harsh reality made the opening up of university and college education all the more appealing, and still offers an alternative. But the dual blows of the axing of education maintenance allowance (EMA) and the average tuition fee now standing at £8,678 mean that the option of education will be less appealing and unemployment will rise at a quicker pace. Con-Dem government plans to increase the age of compulsory education to 19 – but, effectively, to allow young people to be forced into work from 14 – will mean fewer young unemployed but also, likely, fewer jobs available. Access to education and youth unemployment are closely tied in, and it is vital that Youth Fight for Jobs continues to link these issues.

The government has responded to this situation with a bewildering range of schemes, all small in scale compared to the number of unemployed young people. In one form or another, they centre on forcing young people to work without payment: carrying on receiving their job seekers’ allowance but without travel expenses, training or a job at the end. The government is currently being challenged in the courts over one of these schemes, under a law designed to stop slavery. Because of the size of these schemes, however, they are not currently well known about or experienced. The government is clearly using the lack of a mass opposition to unemployment to establish this as the norm while it feels it has the chance. Exposés such as those carried out by Shiv Malik in The Guardian have raised awareness and seen the start of a political campaign around these brutal schemes.

There is a growing layer of young unemployed people who are highly politicised, including a significant layer of graduates who were involved in last year’s student protests. The Occupy camps scattered across the country are proof of this, alongside the successes of the Jarrow march. The march was an important event and, through the media, touched hundreds of thousands, if not millions. Youth Fight for Jobs is established as an organisation fighting for young people on a national scale, and when youth unemployment becomes a mass issue it is extremely well-placed to lead that fight-back.

Done! Now... BUILD THE MOVEMENT!

It's over! We crossed the M25 late in the afternoon on Wednesday before entering the London borough of Barnet. Mark the van driver, or Bullet as we like to call him, welcomed us at the border with a bottle of bubbly and a very moving speech. From there on in, the time flew by until Saturday when we had our grand demonstration in the centre of London with around 3,000 people attending. The delay of this blog entry is due to me taking a few days to recover from it all. I think I was one of several marchers to come down with a post-Jarrow cold!

The demonstration in London was fantastic. It was brilliant to see people from all over the country that we had met on our way down. It was like one big reunion. The atmosphere was great and one of the marchers, Alex, set us off from Embankment with a fiery speech that inspired us all to chant until our voices died completely. There were banners from a huge variety of unions which was brilliant to see, and we had a delegation sent to support us from the occupy stock exchange group which was great as well. I was part of a group of 6 marchers that left the march to go hand our petition in at Downing Street. Our reception there was appalling. I didn't have enough time to focus my camera before they closed the doors on us!

But we knew this would happen. We were under no delusions that Cameron would welcome us into London open-armed, read through the demands of our petition and say "you know what? You're right! I'll get on it first thing in the morning." The brief, discourteous welcome clearly shows how little they care about the issues we're fighting for and how little they intend to do about it. The whole system is rotten, and it's time for us to change it.

This march was never seen to be an end in itself. As with the occupations around the world it has helped to voice the anger of ordinary people. It has put the issues that young people are facing today on the table and inspired many to take action. One of the central aims of the march was to create links between trade unions all across the country, to speak to ordinary people, and make them realise that if this, or any other, government cannot afford to invest in the future of young people, to invest in pensions, to invest in jobs, then we can't afford this government. We need to keep working now to make more and more people get involved and to join their unions. We need to dispel the myths that the capitalist media is feeding us every day and make people realise that they have the power and right to create a more just society.

The 30th November is going to be extremely important in that respect. Around 20 public sector unions will be taking strike action to protest against cuts to their pensions. But it is also about much more than that. The country will be drawn to a standstill and everywhere workers will be demonstrating the power that an organised mass workers' movement can have. We need to build for this, but also to build for future coordinated strike action. To create a mass movement and eventually a mass workers' party out of the unions that really represents ordinary people. A party that refuses to make any cuts to our services and instead invests in them. A party that can organise the millions of this country to fight back against the millionaires.

40 miles to London...

40 miles to London a signpost read today! We're getting closer by the minute and on Wednesday we'll be crossing the fabled M25...

As encouraging as that thought was, it was the longest day of the march today from Milton Keynes to Luton. Not only was it just over 22 miles, but we had to keep to a tight schedule in order to reach the outskirts of Luton in time to walk into the town with a group of Unite members. We also had to pick up the pace due to the hours having changed and it getting dark much earlier. All of these factors meant that we had to walk at one of our fastest paces yet and we all really felt the impact of it by the end of the day.

It was brilliant to have the added support of my dad walking with us on the march today. His presence was great for morale as an extra number to the team (fresh blood!). It just made me want to again remind everyone how welcoming we are of people joining us for as much time they can spare, even if it's just for part of a day. Particularly as we approach London.

We met the group from Unite at an old Vauxhall factory on the edge of Luton. It was great to have the extra numbers for the march into the town centre, where we received a warm welcome from PCS and NUT members as well as Labour councillors and other supporters of the march. The Mayor of Luton and the Labour council made us tea in the town hall which was a great relief after the long day. They were really supportive of what we were doing and marcher, Matt Dawson thanked them for this but expressed our desire that if they really wish to show their support then they need to commit to the demands of the march and fight against any cuts asked of them by central government. We were also extremely grateful to have fish and chips provided for us by Unite and goodie bags full of fruit, crisps, chocolate and glow sticks among other things prepared for us by the local PCS branch.

The ensuing meeting in the university was extremely well attended with most of the seats in the lecture theatre being occupied and the mood was great. Speakers included reps from Unite, PCS, NUT and the TUC as well as two of the Jarrow marchers. Generally there was a really positive atmosphere in which everyone seemed to agree that what is needed is not just a fight against the cuts, but a fight for a new system. The Unite representative made us aware that the union is now opening up its membership to communities, students and unemployed people which we see as a really great move towards engaging the wider population in an organised trade union movement that fights for positive change.

On Wednesday I'm looking forward to commuting over to Brighton for a meeting on the Jarrow march. If anybody wants to hear more about our experiences on the march and the issues surrounding it then please come along. Also, don't forget that Saturday is the grand day when we have our final march in the centre of London from Embankment to Trafalgar Square. We're trying to get as big a turn out as possible on the day to send a really clear message to the government that we won't be a lost generation. Get yourself onto the coach from Brighton and fight for jobs and education!

The coach is leaving at 9am from Richmond Terrace, by St Peter's Church, and will cost £5 waged, £3 unwaged - contact info.bhsp@gmail.com or 07894716095 for more details.

Interview on the One Show, Support from The Fonz and 'Work Academies'

Over the past few days we've had some really successful regional demonstrations in Sheffield, Chesterfield, Nottingham and Leicester. They have shown how support for the march is growing as we approach London, with more and more trade union branches and local community groups wanting to get involved. Press coverage is also increasing, having been on the One Show (click here for link) on the day the new unemployment figures released. 991,000 16-24 year-olds are now unemployed, although the real figure is likely to be over a million. Henry Winkler who played Fonzie in Happy Days was also on the show and expressed his support for the march (hence the picture)!

The government has proposed some token investments in job creation for young people - work academies - which provide unpaid work experience for 50,000 young people with a guaranteed job interview at the end. However we say that this is simply not good enough. It will still leave 950,000 youths unemployed and this 50,000 are still not even guaranteed to get a job, just an interview. We also argue that if there is useful work that these people could be doing, then they should be paid like any other employee.

We're all getting used to the walking now. It seems to have become part of the routine now to walk 10-20 miles every day. Although we're still very much enjoying our rest day today in Leicester. The Indian Workers Association have been kind enough to put us up for a couple of nights and cook us some amazing food. This morning they took us to visit and have breakfast in a sikh temple. Some of us then went down to the park and played football with a group of local kids as part of our training for a big football match when we get to London. In Nottingham we stayed with local supporters which was brilliant. I got to sleep in a comfy bed and be treated to some great food. I knew I was probably being softened up too much by the time I was sitting in front of the TV with a cup of hot chocolate!

Now that I've been on the march for two weeks I can look back on it in a more objective way. It's been a brilliant opportunity to see so much of the country and how much people are being affected by the government's cuts. Having only lived in Cambridge and Brighton before, relatively affluent areas, I feel like I've now had my eyes opened to how many people across the country are living through difficult times, with job and public service losses being present everywhere. Yet this hasn't given me a hopeless outlook on the situation. Despite the difficulties people are facing, there is also a growing willingness amongst people to fight for change.

Ideas of socialism seem to be coming back to the fore and more and more people are seeking to unite together in a struggle against the greed of capitalism. This march has been brilliant for creating links all over the country and fostering new hope in people's hearts. Everywhere we seem to be inspiring people to get up and fight back. As we approach London, protests and occupations are taking place all over the world. People are finally beginning to realise that the current global economic system must be changed for one that has the interests of working people at its heart.

For transport from Brighton to the final leg of the march in London on November 5^th contact info.bhsp@gmail.com or call 07894716095 – see the Facebook event here.

Speaking outside Shirebrook jobcentre

No to BAE Job Cuts!

The past few days have seen us receive huge amounts of press coverage. It’s getting to the point where we’re being slowed down by photo shoots and interviews in every town and even on the side of busy roads.

Unfortunately, not all of the coverage has been positive. The Telegraph, The Sun and The Independent have all claimed that we’re ‘fizzling out’, that the organiser has quit, and that we aren’t doing all of the walking. This comes after a day when we battled through wind and rain on busy roads, desperately trying to reach Harrogate in time for a rally. It was definitely the first real challenge of the march.

As we got closer to Harrogate, it became clear that we might not make it in time, so some of use went on ahead in the minibus to show a presence at the rally for local supporters and the press. The rest of us continued battling along in the rain. Because of this, we’ve been accused of giving up! It just shows how the press of the establishment is determined to undermine our efforts in any way possible. It’s ridiculous! Even if some of us hadn’t walked all the way to Harrogate, it doesn’t take anything away from the issues we’re raising on the march.

Yesterday gave us a big boost in morale though, with successful demonstrations in the region in both Hull and Leeds. Around 700 people turned out in Hull to support our march, as well as the BAE manufacturing workers that are being laid off in the area. BAE Systems intends to cut 3,000 of its 40,000 UK jobs. Apparently this is necessary for BAE to "ensure its long-term future" while the futures of the estimated 5,700 directly and indirectly affected workers look bleak. It's particularly disgraceful that nearly 100 apprentices face dismissal. Youth unemployment in Hull is running at around 30%.

The £80 million cuts in public expenditure imposed on the council by the Con-Dem government have added hundreds of council workers to the dole queues. The Tories claimed that private industry would 'soak up' those made unemployed from the public sector. The truth is that the private sector on Humberside is shedding jobs, not creating them.

Read more about the BAE campaign here

In Leeds there was a good turnout for a march that was both in solidarity with the Jarrow march, as well as a response to the right wing demonstration called at the same time. To get to Leeds we had had our most scenic leg of the march yet. We walked along lovely country lanes through the Yorkshire dales which gave us a well needed rest from busy roads and cars storming past us. The down side was that we saw less people along the way but, again, it was a great boost in morale.

Today was our first rest day of the march. I can’t explain how appreciative I was of not having to be woken up by an alarm! We’ve just been recuperating in a local supporter’s house, cleaning out the minibus, and stocking up on food. Morale is high and our numbers have been boosted by new marchers joining us over the weekend. Bring on week 2!

Video of the start of the Jarrow march

Click here for the video