{"id":11197,"date":"2017-01-23T17:01:24","date_gmt":"2017-01-23T17:01:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=11197"},"modified":"2017-01-24T11:40:36","modified_gmt":"2017-01-24T11:40:36","slug":"like-dust-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=11197","title":{"rendered":"Like dust we rise"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n

Not since the Vietnam War have so many people across the world taken to the streets to defend progressive values, with women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s marches organised in dozens of cities globally on Saturday (January 21), including in the UK.<\/p>\n

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A strong contingent of Unite members joined women, children, some men and even pet dogs in London \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all from vastly different age groups and different walks of life \u00e2\u20ac\u201c all there to stand up against the misogyny and hatred espoused by the new Donald Trump presidency in the US.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a remarkable showing of solidarity with sisters and brothers in Washington D.C., whose own Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s March drew an estimated half a million people, nearly 100,000 protestors brought London to a standstill as the march wound its way from Grosvenor Square outside the American Embassy to Trafalgar Square.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"women's<\/p>\n

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A particularly cold afternoon could not suppress the defiantly joyful, carnivalesque atmosphere at the march, with protestors carrying signs that read \u00e2\u20ac\u0098We shall overcomb\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 \u00e2\u20ac\u201c in reference to Trump\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s often ridiculed hairdo \u00e2\u20ac\u201c \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Keep your tiny hands off our rights\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Fight like a girl\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Love trumps hate\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, among others.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

On the same day (January 21), Unite BA mixed fleet cabin crew, who are now in the midst of a dispute over poverty pay, held a protest outside M&S stores to highlight the fact that cabin crew earn on average \u00c2\u01416,000 a year less than M&S staff to sell the retailer\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s meals on short-haul flights.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

After the protest, Unite BA cabin crew joined the Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s March.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Two sides of the same coin’ <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Unite regional secretary Peter Kavanagh noted that the BA protest and the wider Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s March against Trump were two sides of the same coin.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bI think it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quite appropriate because 70 per cent of BA mixed fleet are women workers,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 he said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe gender pay gap is a huge issue. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been really good to link up the two things \u00e2\u20ac\u201d people\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fear of what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going to happen in the so-called free world, with Trump now leading in America, and what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happening industrially in British Airways.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Unite BA cabin crew who UNITElive spoke to agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Rachel*, who described her plight as she struggles to subsist on meagre wages working for British Airways, said the Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s March was \u00e2\u20ac\u015ball relevant to what\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s going on across the world\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople everywhere are unhappy with the status quo,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople are sick of being taken advantage of by people at the top who earn hundreds of times more than the average worker. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just not fair. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come along to lend our support.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00c2\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Andrea*, who explained that working for BA as mixed fleet means at the end of the month, she and her colleagues cannot afford food \u00e2\u20ac\u201c many she said virtually starve themselves downroute because food is so expensive \u00e2\u20ac\u201c agreed that the BA dispute and the demands at Saturday’s Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s March are \u00e2\u20ac\u015bdefinitely interlinked\u00e2\u20ac\u0165.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"BA<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bPeople here are protesting against Trump who sits high up in an office as a businessman, not a real president supporting the concerns of working people, and we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re fighting against the big fat cats as well,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bAs cabin crew, the majority of whom are women or LGBT people, we stand together with the protestors today who just want equality in our jobs and in our lives.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Unite regional officer Lindsey Olliver agreed.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo many of mixed fleet crew, Unite members, are young women and gay men, and many of the crew often go to America as well,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she explained. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bSo they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re here today to be with other like-minded people and publicise what BA are doing to cabin crew, forcing them to live on a poverty wage.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0098Amazing\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 turn out<\/strong> <\/em><\/p>\n

Unite Community co-ordinator Liane Groves, who led a large group of Unite members at the march, said that it was \u00e2\u20ac\u015bamazing to see 100,000 people all standing up for progressive values.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe sent a strong message that we all want an inclusive society,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite members were out in full force because as trade unionists we believe in and will stand up for equality.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe threat that the Trump presidency represents to workers\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 and women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reproductive rights is very real,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 she said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe stand with our sisters and brothers in American trade unions in solidarity in their fight for equality \u00e2\u20ac\u201d a fight which is ours too.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

As the march culminated at a rally in Trafalgar Square \u00e2\u20ac\u201c which could not fit all the tens of thousands of protestors and so saw many of them spilling out into surrounding streets \u00e2\u20ac\u201c various speakers addressed the crowds, including Labour MP Yvette Cooper and Unite assistant general secretary Diana Holland (pictured below with Unite BA campaigners).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"ba<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWhat I want us to celebrate here is the Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s March in Washington, D.C, which hundreds of thousands of women are crossing America to be part of. We are with you side by side, sister to sister \u00e2\u20ac\u201c 700 hundred marches, 70 countries in seven continents,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Holland said. \u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe are making history.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Quoting verse from the American poet Maya Angelou, Holland said to rousing applause, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bYou may write me down in history\/With your bitter, twisted lies,\/You may trod me in the very dirt\/But still, like dust, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll rise.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Highlighting that she came to the march to represent the trade union movement, Holland noted that of the UK’s 6.5m trade union members, 1.4m of whom belong to Unite, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bthe majority, 3.5m of them, are women \u00e2\u20ac\u201c who knew?\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pics by Mark Thomas<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Not since the Vietnam War have so many people across the world taken to the streets to defend progressive values, with women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s marches organised in dozens of cities globally on Saturday (January 21), including in the UK.   A strong contingent of Unite members joined women, children, some men and even pet dogs in London […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11201,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[232,209],"wps_subtitle":"Unite out in force at historic Women\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s March","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11197"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11197"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11197\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11209,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11197\/revisions\/11209"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/11201"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}