South London Strikes and Protests Round Up

I haven't had time to cover these in detail, so here's a quick round up of recent strikes and protests in the South London area.

Firefighters have been continuing their strikes against changes to their pensions:

Striking firefighters at East Greenwich fire station, May 2 2014
(photo from @akaDanielLawrie  on twitter)

Pickets at Plumstead fire station, May 2 2014

Workers at the Ritzy cinema in Brixton have been staging strikes demanding that those employed by the Picturehouse chain get paid the London Living Wage (£8.80 an hour; the current hourly rate for most Ritzy staff is £7.24).The most recent action closed the Ritzy on May Day.

Strikers outside the Ritzy in Brixton on May 1 (photo from @ritzylivingwage)

On the same day, staff at Lambeth College went on strike against changes to their pay and conditions. The day was due to be the start of an all out strike, but this has been postponed following an injunction  by the college. Lecturers union UCU has now declared this a dispute of national significance and called a national demonstration in support of Lambeth College staff on Saturday 17 May:

Lambeth College strikers on 1 May (photo from ISN)

Workers on the London Underground have been striking against plans to close ticket offices at tube stations:

Pickets at Elephant and Castle tube station on 29 April 2014
(photo from https://twitter.com/MPDNUT)

Teachers at schools across the area walked out on the national strike on March 26th over attacks on their pay and conditions:

Lewisham banner on the 10,000 strong demonstration in central London on 26 March 2014

Strikers picket Sydenham School on 26 March
(photo from https://twitter.com/MPDNUT)

On 29 March, there was a protest in Lewisham town centre as part of the national Fast Food Rights day of action for workers rights and against zero hours contracts in the fast food industry. 

Fast Food Rights action at Subway in Lewisham

Lewisham Anti Racist Action Group (banner pictured) joined around 10,000 people on the Stand Up to Racism and Fascism demonstration in central London on 22 March:

There was a strike on March 12th by staff in Lewisham Council's school truancy/attendance service against cuts to the service.