On the 30 November, the biggest strike in 30 years hit the UK. The public sector (teachers, civil servants) around the UK was protesting to defend cuts to their pensions. Predictions put the number of workers striking at 2-3 million and 90% school closure. The number of strikers was much less and only about 58% of schools were closed.
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Much of SOAS was on strike for the day: the shop and pub were closed all day, classes were canceled and there were picket lines. I went to campus around 10am to check out the scene and it was really just a handful of people milling about. There were picket lines in front of the doors to the main buildings and people huddled around coffee. And the city was surprisingly quiet. Although to be fair, people who were striking were all outside of their own institutions and buildings. The rest of the day was spent in a coffee shop with my flatmate studying!
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Last week I was running from one class to the next when I ran into a crowd of people standing outside of the building I needed to get in to. Apparently, there was another protest (just a few people with a loud speaker) and the building had gone on 'lock down.' No one in or out. It was more amusing than anything since I missed all the action. Fortunately, the lock down ended and I was able to make it to class....spoken like a true student!
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