“All out!” was the rallying cry at the latest early-morning protest by construction workers.
The build-up for N30 is gaining momentum. Three months after their first protest, around 300 construction workers gathered in front of the Pinnacle building site in the City of London on Wednesday morning, once again demanding that construction bosses stop their plans to drive down wages and erode employment rights. Just before 8am, the protesters blocked Bishopsgate and stopped traffic for about half an hour – in spite of attempts by the police to push them back onto the pavement -, before setting off on a march through the City.
The protesters called on all working people to join forces in their struggle against government cuts and worsening working conditions, with the strike on November 30 as the next step.
The slogan “All out!” was also repeated by the students and protesters from OccupyLSX, who had joined the construction workers along with people from the unions PCS, Unite and NUT. Construction workers pledged their support for the student movement and encouraged people to join the national student demo later on in the day. As one speaker said, the support by the various unions was crucial, since what is happening to construction workers now will be happening all working people if the government’s austerity programme is not stopped.