Put People First protest

28/03/2009 - 21:00
Etc/GMT

With the G20 days away, the 28th of March will see a mass protest in London. RGA has supported the callout for a Direct Action Workers Bloc (see below).

For more information please visit:
- http://www.putpeoplefirst.org.uk/
- http://www.g-20meltdown.org/

As the financial crisis has spurred a global economic recession the reality of the situation is being faced by us all – price hikes and wage cuts, job losses, spiralling debt and repossessions. The institutions of government and global finance are making us pay for their mistakes, giving themselves hefty bonuses for the privilege. As big banks get billions of our money to bail them out, the Post Office is threatened with privatisation and mass redundancies to claw back the pension hole! Government and bosses, while protecting their own interests, are steadily losing their grip as the anger of the working class becomes more and more apparent after a decade of enforced 'social peace'.

Putting working class anger first
The recent wildcat strikes at the Lindsay Oil Refinery saw workers take action for themselves, without union backing. Thousands of workers across the country walked out in sympathy strikes – a practice still outlawed under the Thatcherite anti-trade union laws. No repercussions were suffered by the workers - a lesson to us all. And although we oppose such slogans as “British Jobs for British Workers”, we do not dismiss the experiences, anger and positive action of those workers to develop a pro-working class position, based not on capitalism's demands for inter-worker competition, but on international class solidarity.
If we want social change we must fight without prejudice for it.

Solidarity is not a word but a weapon

Our purpose is to put direct action at the core of any fightback - against the repossessions and redundancies that we will face over the coming months and years, to restate our commitment for an international unity amongst all working class people regardless of nationality, race, sexuality or religion. We stand shoulder to shoulder with all those who take direct action against their current situation (against the state and its institutions, against the bosses and the capitalism they cling to), and confront those who seek to hinder or recuperate that action - fascist parties like the BNP, government forces, the trade union elite and the corporate media. The memory of the miners strike, Wapping, Poll tax lingers long and hard.
2009 is our summer of rage - we are only as strong as the power we give ourselves.



Join the direct action bloc on the Put People First mass demonstration on Saturday March 28th. Meet in Victoria Embankment Gardens, 11am. Look for the red and black flags.