18 October: coach parking and more

Across the UK, UNISON branches and regions are mobilising for 18 October.

London will see a mass demonstration – organised by the TUC under the slogan Britain needs a pay rise.

If your UNISON branch, region or local trades council is organsing a coach to London for the event, there are a number of  coach parks around London which can be booked by coach companies or by bodies hiring coaches.

It will be up to the person making a booking, to make sure that coaches arrive at any coach park with the necessary paperwork.

  • Coming from the north and west: 200 parking bays are available at Wembley Stadium, postcode HA9 0WS, for a fee of £34 each. The coach park will be staffed from 8.30am to 8pm. Onine booking page.
  • Coming from the south and south west: 200 bays are available at New Covent Garden in Nine Elms, SW8 5BX, with a parking fee of £61 and a booking fee of £4.31. Staffed from 8.30am to 8pm. Online booking page.
  • Coming from the east: 50 parking spaces at the O2 Aerna in Greenwich,  SE10 0DX, with a parking fee of £61 and a booking fee of £4.31. Staffed from 7am-7pm. Online booking page.

The march will assemble from 11am on the Embankment near Blackfriars.

It will move off at noon, and march via Northumberland Avenue, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly to Hyde Park for a rally. 

This is a slightly shorter route that previous marches, and should allow more people to get to the park in time for all, or a good part, of the rally content. The march not pass Westminster or Downing Street.

There will also be a short march route for those who cannot or do not wish to march the full route.

And there an assembly area for wheelchair/scooter users on the Embankment and a viewing platform – bigger than in previous years – in Hyde Park for wheelchair and scooter users.

In Scotland, the STUC is organising around the theme A Just Scotland: decent work, dignified lives. Planning is taking place for a march and rally to coincide with the London one. This is likely to be in Glasgow, subject to the necessary permissions being arranged.

The Northern Ireland Committee of the Irish Congress of Trade Unions will discuss its plans for  18 October in August.

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