Youth march for a future begins in historic Jarrow: A marcher writes about the first day

October 05 On October 1st a recreation of the Jarrow march for jobs set off from the North West. The march has been organised by Youth Fight for Jobs and aims to highlight the problem of youth unemployment. The following article is a moving account of the first day of the march from one of the marchers, Ben Robinson, Chair of Youth Fight for Jobs.

I’m writing this at 1 in the morning in a kitchen in St Claires in Newton Aycliffe. I’m on my second can of Carlsberg (plug! Free crates will be appreciated!) and have smoked far too much in the last three days.

Photo ©Paul Mattsson

It’s been hard going; stops to dress blisters are multiplying daily. But I don’t think any of the marchers would change any of the experiences that we’ve been through for anything. Everyone has had at least two or three moments where we’ve been overcome with emotion – not through sleep deprivation or getting irritated (that comes later) but because its been absolutely amazing the experiences of the march so far.

The opening demonstration was amazing. 500 people from the area turned out to see us off. But the blunt figure doesn’t do it justice. It was the fact that the RMT arranged a brass band to march through Jarrow with us one the opening day; and Craig Johnston, regional organiser, spoke to our opening rally about the union’s campaign amongst privatised cleaners on the Metro in the Newcastle area.

We had a worker from the AEI cables factory, amongst others first in line to be sacked coincidentally the most active in the union, donate £20 towards the cost of the march from the platform.

Lizi Gray, one of the descendants of the original Jarrow march, spoke brilliantly to explain the situation for us today and explain why we’re recreating the march. I know for a fact that I wasn’t the only one with a tear in their eyes whilst she was speaking. I also know for a fact that when Lizi gets down to join the march next weekend (she’s at college and is doing weekends and her half term) that I’ll get a punch for putting that in the public domain!

We set off on the march around Jarrow and the amount of people coming out of pubs or stopping by the Jarrow Town Hall to applaud us was fantastic. The only down side of the march through the city was that the private company (who South Tyneside Council had asked us to pay £1000 for, but retreated in the end) didn’t close all the roads in time so we had an unplanned break on one of the side streets!

A whole contingent of PCS members from the region joined us on the march after we left Jarrow to head off towards Birtley, including trade union reps from the Jarrow Job Centre and leading figures from the Department of Work and Pensions (which includes Job Centres) such as Fran Heathcote, also from the region. We speed-walked the 10-odd miles from Jarrow to Birtley in 3 hours, which seems a lot easier on paper than it is in real life when you’ve got 40 or so who all need toilet breaks and chances to stock up at the shops. We’re a bit of an unruly bunch but I guess you’d have to be to sign up for this wouldn’t you?

When we arrived in Birtley we met the sacked AEI factory workers and a number of journalists. There was a brief rally which included the second tear-jerker.

A big part of the recreation of the Jarrow March is that we want to highlight and support those in struggle today, and link them up with the thousands of others who are fighting in the workplace, college or university. We have to be a bit tight on money to make sure that the march goes ok, but we’d decided that because of the solidarity that we’d seen that day towards our march, we’ve got to offer exactly the same to the rest of the movement. So Paul, our regional organiser up here, made a speech to the AEI workers supporting their struggle and offering to donate towards their hardship funds. But the workers weren’t having any of it! They stopped Paul mid-speech to refuse the donation, going on to explain that our march represented the fight for a new generation, that if they’d been offered decent pensions they’d have gladly retired and let young people take their jobs, safe in the knowledge that they’d fought for the best conditions of those following them into that job.

On November 30 we’re going to see potentially one of the biggest days of strike action since 1926, in defense of public sector pensions. But if the government were serious about solving youth unemployment, one immediate measure that they could take would be to offer decent pensions to those over 55, allowing them to enjoy life and opening up millions of placements for young people.

That night we had a gig, food and accommodation provided for us by the bar manager of the Three Tuns pub in Gateshead. A great few local bands played for us, allowing marchers a bit of a chance to relax and, for those with enough energy left, even a bit of a dance. Then Sunday morning was back to a community centre in Birtley to eat a spectacular spread put on for us by the AEI workers before heading off on the road to Durham.

Whilst we were outside the community centre getting everyone together, I was called to one side by a woman who lives nearby. She explained what a wonderful thing it was she thought we were doing, and had asked her neighbour to loan her £10 so that she could make a donation towards the march. These are just a few examples of the huge support that we’ve had from people passing by, coming out to see us, stopping their cars to put money in the buckets and beeping their horns to show support. There were a lot of marchers who would have liked to have been on the TUC demonstration on 2 October against the Tory Party and their policies, but also marchers were very pleased to hear that the Jarrow march had been announced from the platform of the closing rally.

Even before the march, our national organiser Paul was recognised in Jarrow and given a free full English (much appreciated!); marchers on the metro to the demo were stopped and given money because of our t-shirts; everyone was so excited to receive their FBU hats and RMT bags and t-shirts on the Friday night before the march, and almost as excited when we had supporters come and make us bacon sarnies and porridge in the morning!

As a young person (I’m 25), I’ve never lived through big polarising battles such as the Miners Strike of the eighties, when lorries of food and supplies were provided for miners and their families by other workers. But it has only been through the course of these few days that I’ve realised that, although its not been called upon for a little while, that huge spirit of solidarity and support for others in struggle exists throughout the country. As this ConDem government forces more and more hardships and meets with more and more battles, I’m convinced this magnificent spirit won’t be found wanting.

When we arrived in Durham, after a brief protest in Market Square, we headed straight to our luxury accommodation at the Travelodge. Durham County Council had very kindly provided us with rooms there, and a venue to cook the evening meal and hear a few local bands. We’re very grateful to all the support and solidarity that the march is receiving, and hope that for the council that their support for our march will also mean support and implementation of the demands of the march; restoration of EMA, house building programs and an end to cuts.

We had a huge amount of press coverage during the first day and it is clear that loads of people in the area know about and support the march. There’s a lot of events going on over the next few days and weeks that’s sure to keep the momentum up. We’re already excited about the 5 November demonstration when we arrive in London; even though whatever way you look at it it’s a long way to go yet!

For more personal accounts of the Jarrow march as it makes its 330 mile trip to London go to the website www.jarrowmarch11.com