The march by NUT and Unison members was lively and the rally in the marketplace attracted hundreds of people.
Reports from pickets indicate a high level of support from the general public, with lots of honks and thumbs-up from passers-by.
There is no doubt that the Tories are worried by the continuing opposition to their policies, or a party elected on 37% of a 64% turnout and forced into coalition with another party would not be even attempting to harp on about 50% turnouts for union ballots.
In the Derby Telegraph yesterday a Tory councillor complained "It's causing a huge amount of disruption" and he's right. Workers should be proud of exercising their power yesterday. What the Tories hate to be reminded of is that under capitalism where there are no workers nothing happens. They will try to browbeat us and tell us that we are weak or 'resented' by 'the public' and that we cannot win. But they have to tell us this, because they know that strike action is effective - it is the single most powerful tool that workers in the capitalist system can have.
The saddest part of the article was a woman who was against the strike because "I work in a supermarket and don't get paid well but we don't go on strike."
Yesterday public sector workers struck to defend public services, but we also need to win to show this worker that she has enormous power to improve her life, if she is prepared to work with her colleagues. One of the most powerful indictments of capitalism is that it manages to convince the people who generate the massive profits of capitalist enterprises like supermarkets that they don't deserve a decent share of the wealth they help to create.
We must carry on the fight, and we must win, and not only preserve the public services which we won through the struggle of our class, but give confidence to workers who don't believe in the power that they objectively have - the power to change the world!
