Members of the Young Communist League mobilised for the annual commemoration of the Burston school strike.

The dispute lasted from 1914 to 1939 and was the longest strike in British labour history. It began when teachers Kitty Higdon and her husband, Tom Higdon, were sacked. Soon the school's children went out on strike in support of their teachers. An alternative school was built, financed by donations from the labour movement, which continued to teach pupils until 1939.

Speakers at the annual Burston Strike School Rally celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Cuban revolution and expressed solidarity with the people of Honduras. Luis Marron, political counsellor from the Cuban embassy, gave a rousing speech that prompted a rush of people to the Cuba Solidarity campaign’s stall, where many signed up to become members. Luis said that as his own parents were teachers, he knew the terrible state that Cuban education was in before the revolution and that if it had not been for the revolution, Cuba would have needed many of their own Burston strike schools. Luis reminded the crowd that with the continued existence of the Guantanamo Bay detention camp, the illegal blockade, and the incarceration of the Miami five, we cannot rush to thank the Obama administration for a change in its policies towards Cuba that it has yet to undertake.

Steve Hart, a speaker from the South East Region Trade Union Council (SERTUC), urged the US government to end the illegal blockade of Cuba and declared his solidarity with the people of Honduras and its elected president “who are showing such tremendous courage when facing the guns of the junta." The Latin American feel of the event was enhanced by children dancing to the rhythms of Cuban salsa in carnival outfits.

Hundreds of trade unionists, socialists and progressives joined the parade led by the Paseo Malanga Carnival Band. The YCL and Communist party contingent marched through the Norfolk countryside behind a brass band from the Rail, Maritime & Transport Workers (RMT), who trailed general secretary, Bob Crow.

Good weather and a fantastic response from the crowd ensured that Burston marked another successful YCL intervention at a labour movement festival this summer.