Ruth Boyle explains why unions and communities are marching for a new approach to jobs, investment, and social security.

Change doesn’t happen by accident. It’s won by people standing shoulder to shoulder, speaking with one voice, and refusing to settle for less than dignity, fairness, and justice. On Saturday 25 October, thousands of us will gather in Edinburgh for Scotland Demands Better, a national march and rally calling for the changes our communities desperately need. This isn’t just another date in the diary. It’s a chance to show our strength, our unity, and our determination to build a fairer Scotland. It’s a chance to put our demands right at the heart of the political agenda.

From the islands to the Borders, from city high streets to rural villages, people are feeling the same pressures. Incomes that don’t make ends meet. Rents and mortgages spiralling beyond reach. Families making impossible choices between heating and eating. Public services stretched thin, and social security that too often punishes instead of protects. The truth is simple: Scotland deserves better. And on 25 October, we will say so loudly, clearly, and together.

Why we are marching

We march because too many of us are being cut off from life’s essentials. Too many are going hungry, or living in damp, insecure homes. Too many dread the winter energy bills landing on the mat. Too many are trying to raise families on wages that don’t cover household costs. And far too many are doing all this while holding down jobs that offer little security, few rights, and no pathway to a better future.

Yet despite these struggles, there is hope, because across Scotland people share the same basic aspirations. Our supporter organisations have come together to highlight the practical changes that our political leaders could make to support a better Scotland. These are common sense policies that can return justice and compassion to our public life and give people a stable foundation to build a better future. They aren’t extravagant demands. They are the basic building blocks of a decent society. But they are under threat and unless we act the gap between what we need and what we have will only grow.

We are faced with much more than a cost-of-living crisis. There is fundamental injustice in the foundations of our economy and our society. It is simply wrong that we have massive growing wealth inequality while 20% of our citizens are living in poverty. Our demands show how politicians can make the important structural changes we need to strengthen the foundations of our society. Without them, we will continue to see people being pulled towards debt and destitution, and left to fend for themselves as the support structures we built to help each other – our NHS, our public services, our social security – carry on being starved of vital investment.

Our Three Core Demands

Scotland Demands Better brings together more than 180 community groups, faith groups, charities, youth organisations, and trade unions around three clear demands: better jobs, better investment in life’s essentials, and better social security. We hope others will pick up these demands when speaking with people in power, especially as we approach the next Scottish Parliament election.

1. Better Jobs

Work should provide security, dignity, and a wage you can live on. Yet too many workers in Scotland are trapped in low-paid, insecure jobs, relying on zero-hours contracts or juggling multiple part-time roles to make ends meet. We’re demanding:

• Sectoral bargaining in low-paid sectors like social care, so pay and conditions are set collectively, fairly, and transparently.

• Employers to commit to living wages, living hours, and living pensions for all – with government doing everything in its power to make this the norm.

• The UK Government to end exploitative zero-hours contracts and strengthen employment rights.

• Student support that matches the real Living Wage, so those in further and higher education aren’t forced into poverty just to study.

For readers of the Scottish Left Review, these aren’t abstract ideas. They’re the bread-and-butter issues that must be fought for every day. By marching together, we send a clear message: low pay, insecurity, and exploitation are not inevitable, they are choices, and we demand better ones.

2. Better Investment in Life’s Essentials

Everyone should have access to the basics that make life liveable: a secure home, good transport, a safe environment, clean air, green spaces, and strong public services. But right now, too many are denied these essentials. We’re calling for:

• Long-term government funding to build new social homes, and protection for renters from unaffordable increases.

• A real social tariff for energy bills, guaranteeing lower rates for low-income households and those with unavoidable high energy needs.

• Expansion of concessionary travel to under-25s, unpaid carers, and people on low incomes or disability benefits.

• An end to unfair social care charges, with proper investment to ensure high-quality, rights-based support.

• Three-year or longer funding for community and voluntary organisations, so they can plan and deliver the services we rely on.

• Fair funding for energy efficiency and clean heating schemes, putting the fight against fuel poverty at the centre of climate action.

This isn’t just about infrastructure. It’s about building a Scotland where the essentials of life are not a luxury for the few but a guarantee for all of us.

3. Better Social Security

A truly fair society looks after everyone no matter their circumstances. Social security should be a foundation for all of us to build a better life for ourselves and our families, not a safety net full of holes. We demand:

• An immediate increase in the Scottish Child Payment to £40 a week, with a commitment to reach at least £55 by 2030.

• Higher disability benefits that reflect the real extra costs of living with a disability.

• Wider eligibility and higher value for the Carer’s Support Payment, recognising the value of unpaid care.

• Scrapping the UK’s two-child limit and setting a path towards a Minimum Income Guarantee.

No one should be pushed into poverty because of illness, disability, caring responsibilities, or because they have children. Poverty is a political choice, and we choose to end it.

Why trade unionists are so important

This march is for everyone, but trade unionists have a particularly important role to play. For generations, unions have been a driving force behind progress for working people. From the weekend to the minimum wage, from health and safety laws to anti-discrimination protections, none of it was handed down by our political leaders. It was fought for, often in the streets, on picket lines, and in the public square.

Today, we face a similar challenge. Decent pay, secure jobs, strong public services – these are under attack. The Scotland Demands Better demonstration is a chance to remind every decision-maker that people will not sit quietly while conditions worsen. Your presence on 25 October will send a powerful message: that unions are still the beating heart of the fight for fairness, and that we are united with our communities in demanding change.

What Will Happen on the Day

We plan to gather outside the Scottish Parliament before marching up the Royal Mile, along George IV Bridge, and into The Meadows. The march will be a sea of colour, with banners, flags, and placards from across Scotland.

At the rally to end the march there will be a festival feel, with music, entertainment, speeches, stalls, and activities for all ages. It’s a family-friendly event, so bring the kids, friends, and workmates.

Importantly, we’ve invited political leaders, not to dominate the stage, but to listen. This march is about people’s voices, not party politics.

How You Can Get Involved

• Bring people with you. Every extra person in Edinburgh strengthens our voice. Invite your colleagues, your neighbours.

• Show your colours. Union banners, branch flags, placards – let’s make our presence impossible to ignore.

• Help spread the word. Share details on social media, talk about it at work, put up posters and distribute leaflets.

• Get creative locally. Host a local event to share the key messages of the campaign, help organise transport to the demonstration or organise a solidarity event in your town if you can’t make it to Edinburgh.

·       Support us financially. Trade unions like the EIS have given us very welcome donations to help build for the demonstration, but every pound counts.

·       Come to a public meeting. We will be visiting towns and cities across the country over the coming weeks. Details are on our website at scotland-demands-better.com, and we’ll also be posting travel information, resources, and updates there over the next few weeks.

This Is Our Moment

The problems we face are big, but they are not insurmountable. Poverty, low pay, insecure housing, and weak social security are the result of political choices. And political choices can be changed. But they will only change if we make them.

On 25 October, we have the chance to stand with thousands of others who share our vision for a fairer Scotland. A Scotland where every worker earns enough to live on. Where every family has a safe, warm home. Where public services are properly funded, and where no one is abandoned and left to fall through the cracks.

This is a march for hope, for solidarity, and for action. We demand better – and together, we can win it.

Ruth Boyle is the Policy and Campaigns Manager at the Poverty Alliance, Scotland’s anti-poverty network.

Find out more at scotland-demands-better.com.