Youth Fight for Jobs

Youth Fight for Jobs meeting:
London burning: public meeting and protest for youth services in Tottenham

Tuesday 16 August 2011
7pm meeting, at North London Community House, 22 Moorefield Road, London N17 6PY
Protest to demand youth services and jobs: 5:30pm, at Haringey Youth Services, 10 Bruce Grove, Tottenham, London N17 6RA
Youth Fight for Jobs and Turkish and Kurdish youth organisation Day-Mer Youth, have called a public meeting in response to the riots in the area.

As riots escalate in London and spread to other parts of the country, Youth Fight for Jobs calls for the building of a mass democratic and organised movement to fight for jobs, investment in youth facilities and all public services including fire services, against all cuts, for decent housing and against police harassment.

Paul Callanan, Youth Fight for Jobs national organiser says: "These events, sparked by the fatal police shooting of Mark Duggan, have shown the anger that exists among young people across the country over joblessness, lack of youth clubs and services, police harassment, education cuts and a host of other issues.

"Over the past 30 years Tory and Labour governments alike have closed youth centres leaving young working class people with nothing to do. Young people feel they are not being listened to.

"Meanwhile the bankers and the rich get away with millions in unpaid tax, MPs get away with their false expenses claims and when we do get a job it's on poverty pay.

"We do not however believe that rioting can solve these problems. We call for the building of a mass democratic movement of all working class and young people.

"It is such movements, involving and organised by working class communities that have made serious achievements in the past. It was such a campaign that saw millions refuse to pay the hated poll tax in the early nineties that defeated that measure and saw off Thatcher.

"Youth Fight for Jobs seeks to bring together young people with trade unionists and students. The enormous trade union demo on 26 March showed the strength of the trade union movement and the strikes by teachers and civil servants on 30 June showed that working class people, when organised and united, can stand up to bullying politicians.

"We are demanding real jobs not slave labour, free education and saying no to all public sector cuts.

"Actions like the Jarrow march for jobs in October and future trade union action will play an important part in building that movement."

This week's riots in London, Birmingham, Liverpool and elsewhere represent an expression of the huge anger that has been building among young people for a long time.

And no wonder. Almost one in five young people are out of work, and this number is much higher in many of the areas affected by disturbances.

Young people face a barrage of attacks from the Con-Dem government. The scrapping of EMA student payments and the huge hike in tuition fees mean education is out of many young people's reach.

To add to the tension, young people, particularly black youth and those from other ethnic minorities routinely face discrimination and stop and search harassment at the hands of the police.

Youth Fight for Jobs was launched in 2009 in response to rising levels of youth unemployment. We now have the support of the PCS, RMT, UNITE, CWU, UCU, BECTU and TSSA trade unions and are recreating the Jarrow March in October / November.

To find out more visit www.youthfightforjobs.com or http://jarrowmarch11.com/ call 020 8558 7947 or email youthfightforjobs@gmail.com