BURSTON 2022

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: november/december 2022 :: RMTnews 26 R MT North Thames branch held a successful fundraiser for the union’s dispute fund last month featuring local musicians and DJs in sunny Southend-on-Sea. Revellers at the packed Moonraker club in Westcliff heard RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey speak about the need for solidarity between workers against a Tory government that was determined to make the poorest pay for the cost- of-living crisis. “We didn’t pick this fight with the employers, they came out fighting after Covid determined to cut jobs, attack conditions and slash services all in the name of profits. “This government and the employers have a clear strategy to take on the unions and we are here to say it’s not on,” he said to cheers. Postal workers union CWU executive committee member Luke Elgar brought solidarity greetings from the picket lines. “We stand with RMT, the nurses and all workers that have had enough of being treated like second class citizens by this rotten government,” he said. The annual Burston Strike School rally each September celebrates what has become known as ‘the longest strike in history’. During the spring of April 1914, the young pupils at the Burston village Council School walked out of their school building in protest at the sacking of their beloved teachers Tom and Kitty Higdon, who were being punished by the local gentry and church authorities for their pro-worker views. The strike and school boycott lasted for some 25 years. The RMT brass band entertained revellers before the annual march around the Norfolk village. Mick Lynch said that the Higdon’s represented a tradition of education and struggle against tyranny and oppression. “The trade union movement came together to build this wonderful schoolhouse which is now a museum to that fight. “Today we are still fighting against those who would deny workers a living wage and slash jobs in the relentless drive for profits,” he said to applause. SOUTHEND SOLIDARITY BURSTON 2022 RMT general secretary Mick Lynch addresses the annual Burston Strike School rally in Norfolk RMT assistant general secretary Eddie Dempsey