Sally Hunt - 30 June speech

Sally Hunt addresses the London rally, during the 30 June pension strike. Apologies for the sound quality - you can read a transcript here:

Do you know Ted Kennedy, what he said was, that the
definition of a civilised society is when
teachers are paid the same as army generals.

But I reckon we've got a bit of a way to go on that, don't you?

I'm here today, proud, because I represent
over a hundred thousand college and university lecturers
whose pensions are under attack.

And I come from a family of teachers, and I am
here for them too.

That's for my mum, my dad, my aunties,
my uncles and my brothers too.

And what that means is NUT, ATL,
and I have to say, NASUWT too.
They'll be here next time.

Coming from where I am and the family I am in,
I don't have any chance of underestimating the power
of education to change things.

Or the determination of teachers
to stand up for what is fair.

I think it's unfair
when I get an email from one of our members,
a woman, in Norfolk, who after 30 years teaching
is on a pension of just £120 a week.

So to hear Nick Clegg talking about public sector
fat cats and gold-plated pensions
makes my blood boil,
and I think he owes
every single one of you an apology.

It's an attack on teachers, people like you.

It is an attack on education itself.

And an attack on education,
is an attack on hope for our children.

This is a government that
has already presided over an increase in the
income of the richest 1000 people
in this country by 18%.

How dare they call us gold-plated?

And how dare they to preach to us about fairness?

And who are they to lecture us about
letting our students down?

We would be letting our students down
if we failed to stand up for fairness.

We would be letting our students down
if we let government get away with
teaching on the cheap.

And we would be letting our students down too,
if we allowed what previous generations won over
decades to disappear in a summer.

We work in a profession that teaches every
one in this country. Every profession.

Upon education rests all our hope for future prosperity
and all our hope for a fair society.

And a fair society means fair pensions for all.

Not just for teachers, not just for civil servants,
but for everyone.

So let's be clear about that. We're here today
for the dignity in old age for everybody.

Public sector, private sector.
I'll stand here and defend decent pensions for MPs if I have to.

Everybody in this country should have a fair pension

Now I started by telling you about my family.
and I'm incredibly of their service as teachers.
and they've built the foundations for much
of what I stand for today.

But, like you, and all the people out on strike today
I've got another family here.

And that's the extended family
that we're all part of.

And that's the trade union movement.

As in any family, we're going to
stand together to defend ourselves.

As in any family, we are going to
stand as one to defend the weak.

As in any family, an injury to one of us
is an injury to all of us.

So I say we all owe it to all our families:
to work together, to stand together,
and we are going to win
this fight together.

Thank you.

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Politics