{"id":13645,"date":"2017-10-02T16:25:47","date_gmt":"2017-10-02T15:25:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=13645"},"modified":"2017-10-02T16:25:47","modified_gmt":"2017-10-02T15:25:47","slug":"no-more-austerity","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=13645","title":{"rendered":"‘No more austerity’"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Swathes of Unite members from across the country joined 50,000 protesters in Manchester yesterday (October 1) on the first day of the Conservative Conference.<\/p>\n

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Demonstrators travelled to the city in their thousands to join a People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly<\/a> demonstration against brutal Tory austerity<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Chants of \u00e2\u20ac\u015bOh Jeremy Corbyn\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 and \u00e2\u20ac\u015bTories out\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 rang out across the demonstration as protesters marched through the city centre.<\/p>\n

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A sea of people carrying trade union flags followed behind a banner which read, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bNo more austerity. We demand an alternative. No more cuts.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

\"peoples<\/p>\n

Demonstrators carried effigies of Theresa May, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bJustice for Grenfell\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 signs and a range of anti-austerity and anti-Tory placards.<\/p>\n

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One placard read, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve seen better cabinets at Ikea.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Unite member and Manchester City Council worker Sonayallu Wilson (pictured below) was one of those at the march.<\/p>\n

\"Sohayalla<\/p>\n

She said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m here today because Manchester says no to the Tories. The damage they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve done to this city with their policies means they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re not welcome here.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bWe need a government that actually cares about ordinary people. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s why I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m proud that Unite is backing Labour under Jeremy Corbyn. Hopefully soon we can get rid of this Tory shambles.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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British Airways<\/a> mixed cabin crew and Unite rep Zimeon Jones (pictured below) had travelled from London to attend the demonstration.<\/p>\n

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\"Zimeon<\/p>\n

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Jones said he was marching because the Conservatives needed to see that people have had enough.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThey want to take us back to Victorian levels of inequality. For a couple of generations we had improvements but we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re going backwards under the Tories. Working conditions have gotten much worse and people are poorer. They want us to lie down and accept austerity and degraded pay and working conditions,\u00e2\u20ac\u0165 Jones said.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe situation is intolerable but the government has underestimated the resilience of working people. We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re fighting back, the Tories are hanging on by a thread and it won\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t be long before there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a Labour government.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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People\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Assembly national secretary Sam Fairbairn said the size of the protest demonstrated just how unpopular the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 policies are.<\/p>\n

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Fairbairn said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe protest shows the mass opposition to the failed politics of austerity.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bThe Tories have continued policies that have caused a housing crisis, mushrooming of zero-hours contracts, poverty pay and the privatisation of the NHS.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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The anti-austerity march concluded in Piccadilly Gardens where a separate protest against the Tories\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 Brexit<\/a> policies also finished.<\/p>\n

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