On a historic day (N30 - November 30th 2011) social workers and social care staff joined millions of other public sector workers in taking strike action against the ConDem Coalition's attack on pensions, part of the government's broader austerity measures. SWAN activists report from around the UK including photos and video.

We have now added more reports from the strike day and rallies. Scroll down to see updates from SWAN activists in Liverpool, London, Portsmouth, Solihull, Wolverhampton and from our colleagues in Disabled People Against Cuts. Please do still send in your reports, stories from the day or photos via email at the link at the bottom of this page.

BIRMINGHAM

Social workers, social care staff and home carers were amongst the tens of thousands of public sector workers in Birmingham who took part in the N30 strike today. Picket lines were well attended and lively (see You Tube video below).

Nick Burke, a social worker, reports on the picket line at one social services office: "55 pickets, militant and very bouyant mood at the picket, singing 'I'd rather be a picket than a scab'. Lots of passing motorists honked in support including a Royal Mail van and most of the buses. One scab made a complaint that the pickets were being intimidating but when this was shared, those on the picket line continued to sing and chat. The only aggressive thing was the scab driving fast towards the picket line and the scale of the council cuts!"

Social workers and other staff then joined a march through the city which Birmingham City Council had tried to prevent. The Council yesterday told the TUC they would charge £10,000 for the march through Birmingham City Centre even though the march against the Lib Dem conference just 6 weeks ago cost a few hundred pounds.

However the strikers defied this deeply undemocratic attempt to stop the march. 15 thousand people joined the protest through the streets of the city, marching to the TUC rally at the NIA.

Nick has also recorded a number of short audio clips of interviews with strikers explaining why they took action today and what we need to do to win. We will make these available soon on the SWAN website.

BRISTOL

Wednesday’s historic strike action and demonstration saw dozens of picket lines across the city with members of a wide range of unions from sectors from social care, local government & civil service to health & education. Then later an estimated 20,000 strikers and supporters marched through the city centre to a huge rally on Castle Park.

A clear message was sent to the ConDem government that their austerity plans are not acceptable as more than 2 million workers came out on strike across the country. The pressure is ramping up on Cameron & Clegg as they try to force through their cuts and pension changes in the face of possible further industrial action.

Phill Wheatley from Bristol SWAN writes: "We picketed Brookland Hall a mental health assessment team centre before joining the main rally in Bristol. We picketed Brookland Hall in solidarity with some workers who had been told by a middle ranking manager that they would hold it against anyone that went on strike. Pleased to say many did not turn up for work, the senior manager concerned didn't and the gates stayed locked until well after 9.15 am.
 
The Pensions rally went well in Bristol with up to 20 thousand people and was very well supported across many professions. Lets hope we have more until we get Pension Justice."

DISABLED PEOPLE AGAINST CUTS (DPAC)

Members of DPAC joined the N30 march and rally in Birmingham. Linda Burnip explains why: "DPAC have always seen the attacks against public sector pensions as a small part of the overall assault against our welfare state which the millionaire politicians running the country are intent on destroying. This unelected mob are also intent on scrapping all employment protection that ordinary working people have through privatisation of our public services, destruction of our unions, erosion of health and safety legislation and the planned scrapping of any employment rights.

For me personally as an ex-local government employee who retired on grounds of ill-health and in receipt of one of the paltry 'gold plated' local government pensions I will lose a significant part of the value of that through the move to raise pensions in line with CPI not RPI and I will now have to wait 4 years longer than I thought for my state pension."

LEEDS

In Leeds, 95% of schools were closed and over 60% of council staff were on strike. Unions provided a small number of exemptions to staff in critical services protecting vulnerable people in life threatening situations.
Pickets were out all over the town centre and beyond (“I’ve had that leaflet thanks, you lot are everywhere”, said one smiling passer-by) , with 70 at Cross Green refuse depot and a determined line of mental health workers at Seacroft Hospital. 

Forty to fifty people – mainly women workers with a roving band of UNISON retired members and a couple of Heads of Commissioning - picketed the various entrances to Merrion House and the Civic Hall, which house the head offices of Adults and Children’s Social Care and other central services. Scabs, largely from demoralised, re-organised and de-organised sections like HR and OD, scurried in with their heads down, apologising. We turned back the post ….. and a vital Xerox paper delivery!

The Leeds TUC rally at Woodhouse Moor drew several thousand strikers from all the striking unions. As the march wound into town, thousands more students, lecturers, council workers, teachers, pupils and civil servants joined, with estimates of well over 7000 at the city centre rally in Victoria Gardens, making this the biggest Leeds demo in decades.

The feeling on the picket lines was clear: we were on strike today for every working class person’s future. We know class war when we see it and we’re not interested in negotiating reductions in jobs, pensions and services. This was a fantastic start and a springboard for re-building shop-floor union organisation. Leeds UCU has called a cross-union meeting for activists on Monday at 6.00pm in Broadcasting House to discuss how to escalate the action.

John from West Yorkshire SWAN added: "As a second year Social Work student who also works part-time in the NHS I see first hand the affect of cuts now on services and staff and what I will be working within when I qualify. To suggest it is fair to top slice public sector pensions to swell the Treasury coffers  and make workers make up the looting by paying more, working longer and getting less is ludicrous. Given the pressure on social care and health care staff, working until 67/68 or whatever age it ends up being is a non-starter, service users and staff will both suffer. There was good student support at both Leeds Universities, hundreds of leaflets were handed out and many students came to the rally."

Sue Talbot & John McDermott (West Yorkshire SWAN)

LIVERPOOL

There was a great turnout in Liverpool for N30, with the local news saying 15000 on the demo! There was a fantastic atmosphere, workers from up to 30 unions marched through the city centre. Unison, Unite, GMB and PCS were the most visible. I marched with other social work students and lecturers from Hope, social work practitioners, my practice educator and my son!

Both the Mersey tunnels were closed due to the strikes, the ferries were not running and the majority of schools, council offices etc were closed.

The rally took place on St. Georges plateau, right next to the Occupy Liverpool camp which was set up on Saturday. There's approximately 35 people camping there now.

The University of Liverpool went into occupation today. They're asking people for show support while they are negotiating their demands which have been distributed across Facebook and a blog which has started now on Merseyside Network Against Fees and Cuts. Watch this space!

Nicky Mitchell (Liverpool SWAN)

LONDON

There were picket lines at social work and social care workplaces across the capital followed by marches which drew up to 50,000 people.

A London SWAN delegation joined the London-wide N30 march and also took part in an Islington protest alongside local Elfrida Society (voluntary sector)/iHoops (anti-cuts) activists.

A longer report will follow soon.

PORTSMOUTH

Social care, social work and health staff stood together on picket lines (see photo), with N30 the most widespread strike action in Portsmouth in living memory.

The majority of schools closed plus council services, HMRC and MOD offices, the University and many other workplaces closed or seriously affected. This shows the massive potential and power of working people coming together to stand up for their rights.

The local newspaper estimated 3000 people came down to the rally in Guildhall Square (see video below) where speakers from many unions, to huge applause and cheers, attacked the governments class war on working people. Private sector workers and unions spoke of their support for the strike and refusal to let Cameron & co divide and rule on that basis. Calls for more action on the basis of pensions and against cuts were well received with union members.

SCOTLAND

SWAN members joined the N30 demos in Glasgow and Edinburgh.

Over three times as many as had been expected turned up to march in Edinburgh today. Around 15,000 workers marched from the castle to the Scottish Parliament in defence of their pensions.

In Glasgow up to 20,000 striking workers and their supporters took to the streets for the public sector pension strike. Workers from Unison, EIS, PCS, GMB, Unite and UCU flooded the city’s Shuttle Street meeting point with a sea of people.

The arranged start time of 12.30 was pushed back by around 45 minutes as organisers struggled to accomodate the unexpectedly large numbers. The venue for the closing rally was too small to contain the huge crowds.

Iain Ferguson from SWAN said, “We have to fight together to defend pensions—but we also have to go beyond that to defend higher education, the welfare state and fight benefit cuts.”

SOLIHULL

With dawn breaking in Solihull N30 picket lines formed outside seven larger Council workplaces and Solihull College for 7.30am. The NUT, NASUWT, GMB and UNISON jointly picketed the gate at the Council House in view and hearing range of the Chief Executive and Leader of the Council. Drivers going into work had an uncomfortable wait and had to speak to pickets when they requested the barrier to rise. The five entrances of the Council House each had a picket of two people.

The Bluebell Centre at Chelmsley Wood proved a particular challenge as the Council Offices lie within a privately owned shopping complex. Strikers gathered at different points around the perimeter of the centre, there were on going boundary disputes with the security staff over where they could stand. A lot of shoppers going into Asda’s expressed their support for the strikers.

Jensen House, a base for a number of Social Work teams, and Jubilee House were closed and picket lines formed opposite each other across Auckland Drive. Children’s Social Work Teams were solid in their support of the strike, and were run with emergency cover. Managers led their Teams out and joined the picket lines

The strike was well supported by Adult social care workers, all the Day Centre’s were closed and many residential workers and mental health workers were out. Just 12 of Solihull’s 76 schools were fully open.

Cllr David Jameison, leader of the Labour group on Solihull Council visited the picket line outside Solihull Council House and expressed the support of the Labour Group for our struggle to protect the livelihoods of low paid workers.

By mid morning UNISON members ended their picket duties to join the 15,000 demonstration in Birmingham City Centre.

Jolyon Jones (West Midlands SWAN)

WOLVERHAMPTON

At 7am yesterday morning two trade union members turned up to unlock the building at my workplace and the struggle to get all union members out on Strike began. We have to ‘think of the children’ they claimed. Dealing with betrayal at dawn is not easy but by nine o’clock we had 10 pickets, the majority of members on strike including a whole admin team who could least afford to lose a day’s pay whose loyalty to the union was second to none. By 11am we had over two thousands strikers at our city march around town and by 2.30 pm at the regional rally central Birmingham there were 5000. By the end of the day there were over 23,000 on strike in our region. 

In order to look after the children in our service both now and in the future, we need social care workers who not be worn out or exhausted and with a carrot of a reasonable pension at the end of our working life. By taking this action now and protecting the value our pension, we are thinking of generations of children in the future.

Simon Cardy (West Midlands SWAN)

We will post more reports of strikes and rallies from around the country as we receive them.

if you have a report or photos from N30 please send them to us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

More photos of today's strikes are also available from the website of our colleagues at the Right to Work campaign - see their website for reports of the day here: http://righttowork.org.uk/2011/11/n30-report/ and here: http://righttowork.org.uk/2011/11/n30-the-beginning-of-the-winter-of-resistance/