Protesters block roads and occupy offices over the cost of living: 'Bills are rising but so are we'
Alicia Samuels and her son Aeon have spent the last six years in temporary accomodation. She joined community union Acorn's 'Day of Action' to protest against the cost of living
Acorn protesters occupied offices to protest the cost of living crisis. Image: Acorn
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A community union has launched a day of co-ordinated action against organisations it blames for the cost of living crisis.
Acorn members took aim at landlords, energy and water companies and bailiffs across England and Wales on Thursday (20 August) in what the group billed as a national ‘Day of Action’.
Members occupied offices, held picket lines and blocked roads across the countries, arguing that firms were profiting from the crisis or leaving ordinary people being forced to pay more for essentials.
Usman Akhtar national spokesperson for Acorn, said: “Working class people across the UK are being battered by the cost of living crisis, working to exhaustion and waking up dreading the landlord raising the rent again, their energy bill rising, water bills spiralling and bailiffs leeching off whatever joy is left.
Acorn members block the road outside water company United Utilities. Image: Acorn
“All while fat cat CEOs gorge themselves on massive bonuses at our expense, we’ve had members being chased for bills that aren’t theirs, members left with £300 water bills for one single month and others left with no running water at all. We’re battered and bruised but not beaten.
“Our day of action is about rising up and fighting the cost of living crisis at the front doors of the those causing it and taking back what’s ours. We’re demanding an end to the use of bailiffs for debt collection, no executive bonuses, no price rises above inflation for five years, a write-off of household utility debts built up during the cost of living crisis. Bills are rising but so are we!”
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The ‘Day of Action’ saw Acorn members blockade the road outside water company United Utilities and clamp a bailiff van in Darlington.
Breckland Council’s offices in Thetford were occupied in over its use of bailiffs. Acorn claimed it secured members a meeting with the council that same afternoon.
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Acorn member Alicia Samuels, 40, spoke to Big Issue ahead of the ‘Day of Action’. The single mother was among Acorn members who picketed outside private landlord Greystar’s London headquarters.
Samuels, from Tower Hamlets in London, told Big Issue she has been living in various unsuitable temporary accommodation placements for the last six years alongside her six-year-old son Aeon.
Alicia Samuels and her son Aeon spent six years in temporary accommodation. Image: Supplied
Samuels said she faced mould, mice and arson during her spell in temporary accommodation and she was only able to secure a permanent home – the first of her son’s life – a week ago.
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The single mother has become a housing campaigner following her spell in temporary accommodation and is campaigning for a new law in her son’s name.
She has launched a petition calling for Aeon’s Law to reform minimum safety standards for families with children living in temporary accommodation. The proposed legislation would build on existing Awaab’s Law, introducing mandatory inspections and an automatic right for families to be offered emergency housing if risks persist.
Samuels told Big Issue that she decided to take action alongside Acorn because she wants to “be part of changing it”.
“My journey has been very, very traumatic,” she said. “From pregnancy to today, I’ve been in approximately five different temporary accommodations and they’ve all been unsafe.
“I’ve lived through that housing insecurity, so I know what it does to you and your family when something as basic as having a secure, affordable home becomes a constant fight.
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“I don’t want to just talk about what’s wrong anymore. I want to be part of changing it. Not only for me, but for other families who are going through the same thing.”
So far, new prime minister Andy Burnham has pledged to lead a “cost of living government” and has used his short-time in power so far to announce various policies to ease the pressure on UK households.
Burnham has announced measures to reduce energy bills and bus fares, including making bus travel for disabled passengers, and dealing with the ‘subscription trap’.
By his own admission, the prime minister has said that what he has delivered so far is not enough to address the cost of living pressures entirely.
“The bigger national housing demand is for rent controls that bring unaffordable rents down and make rents relative to people’s incomes,” said Samuels.
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“We want to write off energy and water debts built up during the cost of living crisis and council tax and replace it with fairer proportional property tax.”
