It was fantastic coming into Trafalgar Square and a real party atmosphere. I carried the Jarrow Banner and met so many wonderful people. We were given money to spend by the miners and clean pants to wear, sleeping bags and T-shirts by the TUC people. We slept in Council offices, people’s houses and were fed and watered all the way down. It was one of the most memorable times of my life. They even managed to get my job back for me when I got back into London. My colleagues paid for me to get the train to Liverpool and covered my rent whilst I spent the month on the road. I was a delegate from the EETPU at the Barbican in London and working as an Electrician. I remember being on the Mach from Liverpool to London. On their arrival in London, the then prime minister Margaret Thatcher refused to meet a deputation. A second People’s March for Jobs took place in 1983. Unemployment continued to be a major economic problem, blighting people’s lives for years to come. The march was organised by the North West, West Midlands and South East regions of the TUC, and consciously drew on the hunger marches of the 1930s.ĭuring the march, Labour MP David Winnick drew attention to the plight of those who were without work, pointing out that 6,000 people were joining the dole queues every day while 400,000 had been out of work for more than 12 months. Every day, thousands of supporters joined the core 500 marchers, culminating in a rally at Brockwell Park in south London on 30 May. The People’s March for Jobs set off from Liverpool on to draw attention to the plight of the unemployed. With unemployment now rising fast once again, this is a badge which will stir some rather pointed memories of the recession of the early 1980s.
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