AstraZeneca Demo Report - Wednesday 27th May 2009
DOUBLE WHAMMY FOR ASTRAZENECA LUTON OFFICES
It was a wet dreary lunchtime in Luton when activists met. We were under police surveillance from the start, which was surprising as we hadn’t advertised this demo at all. Some how they knew we were intending to go to AstraZeneca’s media offices on Capablilty Green Business Park, Luton. We arrived at 1pm after a considerable hike up a main road and through mud as the path to the business park was closed for some reason. We embarked upon a noisy demo with 3 megaphones being used constantly, chants and facts told workers inside just what their employers are responsible for.
It was at this time we heard a security announcement coming from inside the building informing the workforce of our demo and announcing security measures. Many people working close to the windows decided to lower their blinds. We continued undeterred, they may not have been able to see us but we know they could hear us. We had support from passing motorists and people came out of the surrounding offices to get leaflets and ask what was going on.
Not content with just being able to inform the workforce on one side of the building, activists protested all sides, to the unsurprising sight of more blinds being quickly lowered as those who thought they would be undisturbed got an earful. It was soon after the return to the front of the building that a delivery van was refused entry, the driver spoke to the intercom and they obviously told him to check his doors were locked because he got out and checked the backdoors on the van, this wasn’t security enough apparently as after waiting for some time he had to reverse away from the barrier and drove off shaking his head.
We made loads more noise including 3 megaphones all making ear bleeding feedback screeches concurrently for 20 minutes at a time. This made the police look distinctly uncomfortable.
At 3.40pm we decided to pack up but we had a plan to return an hour or so later to catch workers and visitors as they left. The plan swung easily into action when no sooner than we had started to collect the placards together we saw police heading to reception to tell AstraZeneca it was over. A few minutes later as we wandered down the road we heard a second announcement from inside the building informing the workforce. We could not hear this as clearly but presumed they were telling them all was back to normal.
After loitering on a track by the side of the main road for an hour and eating vegan chocolate we decided to make our way back. Arriving back at around 4.50pm with not a policeman in sight we quickly positioned ourselves right outside the main entrance and got to work on the megaphones. It quickly became apparent that people weren’t leaving, aware that some people were leaving out the back some activists went there. It was as we heard the sirens coming 20 minutes later that we regrouped at the front. As soon as the police arrived, with faces like thunder, workers and visitors began fleeing from the entrance running to cars and taxis, it was a sight to see! Their cowardice and reluctance to talk to us had delayed them from leaving for up to 30 minutes!
After some discussion with the police, they chauffeured the business park’s Head of Security to us to apparently explain how we were on private property and they no longer wanted us there. We weren’t interested however, as we had made our point and it was time for us to leave anyway. We all felt it had been an effective afternoon. We were then followed for over a mile but finally left alone to go to the pub.
Although the animals’ lives mean nothing to you, AstraZeneca, they mean everything to those individual animals inside HLS. Because of this we will continue to fight for their lives.