On 26th March a group of North Staffordshire PCS members, friends and family set off from Hanley and headed down to London for the March for the Alternative organised by the TUC. Most people on the bus had never been to a protest before but were now determined to stand in opposition to the coalitions brutal programme of cuts. According to Radio Stoke ours was one of nine coaches heading from Stoke to the demonstration but even so we didn’t realise just how big it was going to be until we stopped at the motorway services. The place was full of coaches, all loaded with people heading down to the march. Everyone was in great spirits as we realised this was going to be a huge event.
Our coach joined hundreds of others and parked up at Wembley Stadium. The march was easy to find. We just followed the steady stream of people towards the back of the march. The branch banner got an airing as well as our PCS flags as we made our way along the banks of the Thames. It’s hard to describe how many people were there. We marched for an hour before we finally reached the official start of the march at Embankment.
The atmosphere was incredible. With the marching bands, drummers, balloons and banners it was like being at a carnival. We passed by a couple of banks which had some paint on them but didn’t see any trouble. The police and stewards were friendly, helpful and kept the whole march moving smoothly. Everyone made it back to the coach safely and we returned to Stoke in high spirits, sharing our experiences of the day. The best chant (no bias at all here): We won’t pay for the banker’s mess – WE ARE THE PCS!
Don’t believe everything you read in the popular press. 500 people went to cause trouble. 500,000 civil servants, nurses, teachers, fire fighters, police officers, postal workers, speech therapists, musicians, actors, students, pensioners, community groups and individuals went to peacefully demonstrate that we will not accept these public sector cuts. There is an alternative. Visit the PCS website for more information: http://tinyurl.com/387yesx
