Solidarity with Tower Hamlets ESOL workers leaflet

Solidarity with Tower Hamlets ESOL workers!

The recession may be over if some reports in the press are to be believed but on the ground the cuts are still coming in thick and fast. Not surprisingly, the Labour government on their sinking ship are scrambling for the lifeboats. With cuts planned across the public sector and especially in further education it’s clear they’re happy to push the rest of us into the icy waters below.
The defence of jobs and student places (especially on the vitally important English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) courses) at Tower Hamlets College is certainly important in its own right. However, this strike is not just about one college. Its clear management thought they could target an isolated workforce but have been met by workers with strong resolve, backed by the community and other workers in the area. This last point is key.

The cuts in question here are only one part out of the millions of pounds being taken away from further and higher education. The most important thing is to continue spreading the struggle, to continue getting support and solidarity from other colleges facing cuts and anyone else next in the firing line.

Part of this means going beyond the boundaries set by membership of different unions and professions. Having meetings open to all staff regardless of union affiliation increases our strength as workers and keeps actions under our control. We must seek out each other’s support, even if that means not waiting for the unions to make those links for us and doing it ourselves.

The Tower Hamlets strikers have set a fantastic example for the rest of us in education to follow. Through their direct action and solidarity they have shown Michael Farley and all those seeking to make cuts in education that we will not go down without a fight.

London Education Workers Group

The London Education Workers Group was established so that education workers throughout London can come together to oppose the coming assault on education. We reject the division of workers into separate unions and recognise that politicians, political parties, and union bureaucrats have nothing to offer us. Instead, direct action must be our weapon. Power comes from the grassroots and we, as education workers, must democratically and collectively controlled our own organizations.

Besides supporting one another, we must extend solidarity to student and community struggles. In the long term, it is only through opposition to both capitalism and the state that we can solve, once all for all, the problems that face us as education workers.

Show your support for the Tower Hamlets Strikers!
The London Education Workers Group is having a drinks fundraiser for the strike. Saturday 19th September, 5:00pm at Freedom Bookshop down Angel Alley (shared with Whitechapel Art Gallery), near the Aldgate East tube station.

Bring friends, and an unquenchable thirst for justice!!!
For more information email [email protected]
We'll look forward to seeing you there!