Youth Fight for Jobs:

After the demo, the campaign goes on!

The demonstration on the 28 November was an excellent event for Youth Fight for Jobs, bringing together young people and trade union members who want to fight back. We need to continue the campaigning beyond today to make sure young people's voices can be heard. Join up to youth fight for jobs today and get active with the campaign in your area - see www.youthfightforjobs.com/sign .

Below are some details of some of the campaigning ideas that we have after the demo, especially around the general election.

Think they're all the same? You're right!

Want my vote? Earn it! Youth fight for real jobs. Youth fight for free education.

The Labour Party has left a legacy of one million unemployed youth, tuition fees, minimum wage 'McJobs' and cuts to schools, hospitals and other services. The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats stand for much the same. The three main political parties all agree - ordinary people will pay for the bankers' crisis, young people paying with the chance of a decent future.

What we want is simple. We want the chance to get on in life. We want the opportunity to work and to contribute to society. We want decent jobs that pay a decent wage and genuine opportunities for training and education that won't leave us with decades of debt. It is a ridiculous situation when there is an election to form the government of the country and not a single party currently in parliament is prepared to say anything meaningful to young people on the issues that matter most.

The decisions of politicians matter. If they can bail out the banks, why can't they bail out young people? If they can talk about cutting money to colleges, hospitals and post offices, why can't they cut their inflated pay and expenses instead? The situation young people face is not inevitable. It is a policy choice. Well we say change the policies!

Youth Fight for Jobs will be challenging general election candidates to sign up to the four-point programme below. You want our vote? You work for it! We will be organising meetings, protests, lobbies, school, college and university hustings. Those wanting our votes will either have to promise in front of hundreds of ordinary young people that they will help, or explain why they think the bankers deserve more than the next generation. And we will make sure that everyone in the area knows the real views of those aiming to govern the country.

Some of our main demands in the general election campaign will include:

No to job cuts

New Labour, the Tories and the Liberal Democrats are all talking about slashing public services; making us pay for the crisis of big business. Workers, old and young, are going to face attempts to cut pay that's already too low, and cut jobs with no alternative on offer. We're demanding that workers jobs aren't cut - that those in work don't end up on the dole queue and that there are jobs available for those starting to look.

No to university fees

Many establishment politicians say fees are not an issue for the elections, that a review has been set up. But this review board is dominated by those clearly in favour of fees, up to around £7,000 - in no way is it 'independent'. MPs will get a vote on the issue, they will have opinions and the only reason they'll hide them is if they know how unpopular they are! We say no to the raising of university fees, no to charging for our right to education.

No to education cuts

But its not just university education that faces cuts - courses in skills such as hairdressing, plumbing etc face big cuts as well as other courses in colleges and schools. How are young people supposed to get any kind of skills to work when they cut training in college or at work?

Create jobs

Why are there 5 million people waiting for council houses, and thousands of builders out of work? Why are banks that have received public funds throwing tens of thousands out of work, and others out of their houses? Youth Fight for Jobs campaigns for investment into creating real, useful jobs for young people.

Youth Fight for Jobs will be campaigning on these issues during the general election campaign and beyond. But we can only make our voices heard if we get organised ourselves and fight back! Get involved with the campaign and help us organise protests, meetings, stunts, campaigns and more.

BNP have no solutions

The BNP say they offer an alternative to the main parties, but in reality where they gain seats in local councils and elsewhere they vote through the same cuts that Labour and the Tories do. Instead of campaigning for jobs and services, they spread division and the idea that it is Muslim, Asian, black people and others that are to blame. An unemployed white youth from Barking has far more in common with an unemployed youth from a Bangladeshi family in Tower Hamlets than with the likes of Adam Applegarth, the former boss of Northern Rock, who is still raking in the millions. Youth Fight for Jobs will be organising a protest in the Spring in Barking, where far right racist BNP leader Nick Griffin is standing, to make it clear that he does not stand for us. More details soon.

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