Community activists in Lambeth are organising a meeting to organise against the cost of living crisis.
The public launch of Lambeth Solidarity will be on Tuesday 6 September from 6.30 to 8.30 pm in the Assembly Hall, Lambeth town hall, in Brixton.
Speakers will include local MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy (Labour, Streatham); Millie Apedo-Amah, a member of the executive member of the RMT transport trade union; Sharon Noonan-Gunning of Right to Food London; Helen O’Connor, NHS organiser for the GMB trade union; representatives from the postal workers’ trade union, CWU; and Lambeth Labour councillor Martin Abrams, who represents St Leonards in Streatham, and is a member of the national coordinating group of the left wing campaign group Momentum.
Organisers say all are welcome.
They say Lambeth Solidarity is a new campaign “of Lambeth residents, workers and trade unionists that seeks to build solidarity with the current wave of industrial action and help coordinate the fight back”. Over recent weeks they have mobilised to join striking local workers on picketlines.
“We are at tipping point, the only way to fight back against attacks on our wages, living conditions and public services is through collective action,” organisers say.
“Trade unionists are leading the way. In the world’s sixth largest economy it is a disgrace that millions are struggling to pay the bills.
“With energy caps lifted and inflation soon to exceed 20%, we are stumbling into a deepening crisis.
“This crisis follows on from decades of assault on wages, living conditions and public services.
“While profits continue to rise, the rich get richer, and companies pay out record dividends, workers are asked to take another real term pay cut. But the fight back has begun.”
Lambeth Solidarity said the public meeting will take place “against the backdrop of the biggest wave of industrial action for decades. From Aberdeen to Felixstowe, tens of thousands of workers have been out on strike, including postal, communication, underground, refuse, rail, bus and dock workers, and even barristers”.
They said the CWU, Unite and RMT unions all have plans for further strikes in the coming weeks. Local government workers, teachers and lecturers have announced ballots for strikes.
“Lambeth Solidarity seeks to help support and coordinate those who are fighting back.”
Millie Apedo-Amah has been a train guard for 27 years.
Sharon Noonan-Gunning is a community food activist and dietitian with a PhD in food policy who focuses on tackling malnutrition and hunger through campaigning for the Right to Food.
Helen O’Connor was an NHS nurse for 28 years.
