STRIKING teachers and other public sector workers marched through Camden and Tower Hamlets yesterday.
The vibrant demonstration and rally of 500 Camden NUT members was supported by parents and students, along with other union members.
The march was led by Camden Teachers Association, with banners from South Camden Community School, Haverstock, Hampstead, Acland Burghley, Richard Cobden, Carlton and Primrose Hill Primary School, supported by NUT Ealing Association and a banner from the RMT.
Chanting: ‘No ifs, no buts, no education cuts!’ they made their way to the Town Hall to demand an end to Camden Council’s devastating cuts to central and support service.
A packed rally at NUT headquarters, Hamilton House, heard NUT Secretary Christine Blower say to the government: ‘We don’t want your privatisation.’
Camden Teachers Association Secretary, Andrew Baisley, told the rally: ‘This is an unprecedented attack on Camden’s services. Two children’s centres will be closed. They are thinking about introducing charges in state nurseries, which I think is shameful.’
School student Ruby from Acland Burghley, brought her support for the strike, saying it was ‘our education too’.
‘We must build now for a general strike,’ she concluded.
In Tower Hamlets, 3,000 Unison and 2,000 NUT members were on strike against the cuts.
2,000 marched from Weavers Fields to a rally in the Whitechapel Muslim Centre.
Ashla Saddika, an NUT member at Redlands Primary School, told News Line: ‘We are on strike for our children’s future.
‘I feel strongly about these cuts. Our school is being told it will now have to buy services from the council.
‘This will mean children will be deprived of a lot of sports coaches they currently have.’
Striking Unison member Kerrie Ann said: ‘I am taking a stand for the most vulnerable members of the community.
‘Tower Hamlets is one of the poorest boroughs in the country and cannot afford to have vital services cut back.’
