DAY 15 of the 248-mile Young Socialists March for Jobs from London to Liverpool saw the marchers leaving Stockport Labour Club for Manchester.
They had enjoyed warm hospitality at the club as well as food dropped off by Naz from Stockport Labour Party.
Tom Grundy, a retired AEU member who runs the Labour Club, said: ‘I did an apprenticeship in engineering and there was a lot of engineering companies in Stockport and Manchester.
‘Trafford Park is not only famous for football, it was the most industrial area in Europe at one point. The hat industry in Stockport was shut down in the 1950s. I remember my parents working in the hat industry.
‘I worked in engineering, it was a firm that made diesel engines. I also worked in a company that made parts for oil rigs. It’s an absolute tragedy the lack of training for young people and the exploitation of youth that are forced to do jobs below their skill levels.
‘An example is the girl that they had working in Poundland who had suitable qualifications for something more worthy of her talents. I support the Young Socialists March for Jobs because it highlights the fact that there are numerous people without work.
‘Every union that I have always been involved in has a duty to leave a legacy for young workers, especially apprenticeships. That’s why I support the Young Socialists lobby of the TUC Congress in Liverpool.’
Local lad Tom Griffiths donned his yellow London-Liverpool marching t-shirt to join the YS march as it left Stockport on its way to Manchester.
Tom said: ‘I was working in a pub on a zero-hours contract. We had to work long hours – 12-hour shifts with no break, pot-washing.
‘Often when you turned up in the morning for your rota there was nothing to do, then they would not pay you but would just make you sit there.
If you said you were just going to the shop to get some cigs or something to eat then they said they would not let you go because they may need you in two minutes. Then two hours later, when there was still no work they would just send you home.
‘The one time I challenged them and said why should I sit here and not be paid, only to be sent home, they just said, right, you can go home now, and I had no work and no job.
‘I am marching through Manchester with you. I have tried looking for a proper job for four years, but have not found one.
‘I have been employed in call centres, but I really don’t like them, it’s all the crazy targets you have to meet, it makes it impossible!’
