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| The RTUC banner heads the Women's Day march through Buttermarket |
Reading Trades Union Council played a leading role in organising and partaking in International Women's Day - 2017's event being possibly the most popular ever staged in the town.
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| The length of the march as it passed through Broad Street |
The leading light in the arrangements was RTUC's vice president, Nada Al Sanjari, who organised a strong field of speakers, a band and plotted the route.
Starting at the Spanish Civil War Monument in Forbury Gardens, a procession of around 200 people - women, children and men - paraded down Broad Street, up Friar Street, and assembled outside the Town Hall on the edge of Market Place. Following music by The Retreat Singers - a Reading band founded many years ago on Women's Day - Nada introduced the speakers.
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| Jan Bastable (Unite/RTUC) addresses the rally |
From the RTUC, Jan Bastable spoke, also representing Unite the Union in her role as regional vice secretary and women's committee vice secretary. Jan noted that women make up more than half the members of trade union and urged as many people as possible to join trade unions to help defend rights at work and social services and the NHS in the local community. She promoted the activities of the Reading Trades Union Council and welcomed trade unionists to attend its meetings and to affiliate their branches to the RTUC.
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| Ray Parkes addresses the rally |
Another RTUC speaker was Ray Parkes, a member of Unite Community and an activist in Reading's labour movement for 50 years. Ray commended the organisation of and attendance at the 2017 International Women's Day march, calling it the largest such event in Reading's history. Ray spoke of the strong women who have influenced his political development, from his family to such historical figures as Rosa Luxemburg and Clara Zetkin - the founder of International Women's Day. He thanked Nada for her enthusiasm and successful organising abilities and hoped the event would become an annual fixture in Reading's calendar.
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| Nada Al Sanjani addresses the rally |
To wind up the event, Nada spoke, giving a very personal account of her move from Iraq to the United Kingdom and the impact which British foregn policy in the Middle East has had on the local populations, especially women - splitting families, creating refugees and exiles, and of course killing vast numbers of people. Nada thanked all the speakers and the attendees and looked forward to an even larger scale gathering in a years time.
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| Nada winds up Reading's 2017 International Women's Day march |
