From Jarrow to London: youth march for jobs

The Jarrow to London youth march for jobs has begun. 50 young people from across Britain including three long term unemployed Scots are part of the recreation of the 1936 march from Jarrow to London organised by the Youth Fight for Jobs campaign. Jamie Cocozza from Glasgow, Matt Dobson from Dundee and Luke Ivory from Brora are joining the march as it progresses to London.

75 years ago, 200 marched from Jarrow in North East England to London demanding work for the unemployed. The Youth Fight for Jobs, Jarrow March backed by several trade unions began on October 1 and will end on November 5 with a London demonstration against high levels of unemployment.

Jamie Cocozza, out of secure full time work for eighteen months, “The SNP government are boasting about lower unemployment figures but their agenda of passing on Westminster’s cuts to public services means this is unlikely to remain the case.

The reality is there has been an 89% increase in youth unemployment in Scotland in the last two years, the highest level since devolution. Politicians if they want support from young people should refuse to vote for cuts and not implement them. We are marching hundreds of miles to oppose all public sector cuts and demand increased public investment to create real permanent jobs and a future for young people. We are grateful to have the backing of trade union organisations such as PCS Scotland and Glasgow City Unison as well as the Scottish Anti Cuts Alliance”.

Matt Dobson, unemployed for over a year and a participant in the Westminster Coalition government’s mandatory Work Program “I feel like I have been punished for not being able to get work. The Work Program isn’t about getting people like me back into work but making money for private companies, people are being treated like guinea pigs in a free market experiment.

We are marching not just to demand work but also to oppose the demonization of benefit claimants and the government’s attempts to privatise the welfare state”.
 
Luke Ivory, out of secure full time work for two years, “We feel proud to be following the tradition of those from Scotland who participated in the hunger marches in the 20’s and 30’s. But we are angry that in the 21st century mass unemployment is back on the agenda as once again a generation is being asked to pay for an economic crisis caused by the greed of the capitalists. We hope that young people in Scotland are inspired by the march and start to organise and fight for a future”

On November the 5th, the Jarrow Marchers will arrive in London. They will have marched 330 miles from the North East, demanding, jobs, education and a decent future! Join the mass rally central London from 12noon at Temple Embankmet that will greet them. We will be 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 EMA payments, expanding them to be available to all 16-19 year olds.
    •    The immediate re-opening 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.

Follow the progress of the march by reading the Jarrow Blog

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