On a day when school gates didn’t open, work books remained closed and registers weren’t taken, Merseyside still provided the backdrop for an important lesson.
The sight of 3000 buoyant teachers, university lecturers, train drivers, union officials and members of the public marching from the Metropolitan Cathedral towards the city centre will have taught passers by that this is a fight they have the energy for. A fight they believe they can win.
Large portions of the crowd were made up of teachers and school support staff. Thousands had walked out across the region in a bitter row over pay and conditions, with the National Education Union and other unions opposed to a 5% pay offer which is only half the current rate of inflation.
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The strike was the first in a run of dates which will be escalated in March. Many on the picket lines from before sunrise will hope a resolution is found and the many homemade placards and banners can be confined to the recycling, rather than stored away for another day.
The many teachers on pickets in Liverpool, Wirral and Sefton however appear ready to dig in for as long as it takes. As are the Aslef and RMT members who were once again in position outside of Liverpool Lime Street - their presence becoming almost as regular as some of the services arriving at the station.
But all across Merseyside union flags and banners braced the elements, conditions not quite as hostile as those workers are having to face in their employment, many said. Today’s national walkout of 500,000 people was bolstered by mass action taken by the Public and Commercial Services Union which represents thousands of civil servants.
One of the largest clusters of offices is in Merseyside is in Bootle, operated by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). Many of its staff were on strike in response to a 2% pay rise offer.
“It’s demoralising,” said local PCS branch representative Paula Brown, 55, who has worked at the HSE since 1994 - noting how it has reduced by half in size in that time. Paula said that workers worked long hours during the pandemic to help keep the country safe, assessing essential items like PPE, but many staff will now require a pay rise in April just so they’re on the national living wage.
Around the corner on Stanley Road there was similar discontent outside of the job centre. “In the last 12 years we've had various pay cuts, pay freezes,” said assistant work coach Geoff Burns, 65, adding: “people have lost on average in real cost terms about 30% of the value of their pay.”
Like the HSE, staff will require a pay rise in April just so they meet the living wage, but Geoff also explained how many of those within the DWP are currently receiving Universal Credit, the same benefit they themselves process. “It is a paradox,” said Geoff, with regional branch secretary Moe Brasier noting how staff are using foodbanks as well as claiming benefits despite being in work.
“If you worked for the Government you'd think you were going to be looked after,” said Phil Mount, on the picket line on Old Hall Street in the city centre. There staff from the Home Office congregated in big numbers to protest against the “miniscule” 2% pay offer.
Phil added: “[The Home Office] can't retain the staff and people are leaving because they're seeing that [other lines of work pay better, like supermarkets]. There’s members who have worked here 20,30 years and their children are working in bars while at university and making more money.”
Further picket lines were in place in the heart of the city centre, with staff from National Museums Liverpool standing outside of the World Museum to underline the importance of culture workers during the pandemic. PCS branch secretary Matt Exley, 34, told the ECHO how their professions helped to “make life pleasant not just bearable” during months of lockdown, but that “staff deserve a decent pay for what we do.”
The feeling was mutual between RMT and Aslef members outside of Lime Street, braving yet another cold morning on the station steps facing out across the city. Having been fighting for the best part of a year, they know their campaign has become something much more than a battle for pay - now more of a national movement to address the balance of power.
Nowhere was this feeling more prevalent than on the steps outside of the Metropolitan cathedral. Leaving morning pickets behind, thousands of teachers and workers came together for a march down towards the Adelphi hotel.
While car horns will have given teachers support as they stood outside of their places of work from sunrise, the scene at the cathedral showed education staff that they’re battling alongside thousands of others. “Teachers are tired, they're worn out, they're stressed and we're underpaid and the job is not getting any easier at all,” Laura Chambers, 33, told the ECHO, standing before the iconic cathedral with her colleagues from St Michael’s in the Hamlet - four of them holding a banner detailing a list of jobs and responsibilities teachers are asked to carry out.
Laura added: “There's 100 jobs on there, and that's not everything. ‘Teach’ in capital letters is only a small percentage, probably the smallest percentage of what we have to do.”
Another teacher, Hannah Peacock, based at a school in Knowsley, said: “Today is about making sure that in the future, the students are getting the very best of what they deserve.
“Often I come in at 6.30am in the morning and don't leave until 5.30pm. That's my choice, but it is so that I can assume there's quality first teaching for every single student that is in front of me every single day.
“I want my students to have the best opportunities and future that they could hope for. It’s about building that confidence and making sure they feel safe and supported - it’s a lot for one person to be able to do.”
The crowds gradually swelled in front of the cathedral before the march moved down to the Adelphi . A day when many classrooms were left quiet, teachers and workers delivered a clear message they’ll hope the Government can hear.
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