Public sector workers to start mass strike over pensions

David Cameron says pension changes are ‘fair’ as up to 750,000 public servants from four unions prepare for industrial action The coalition government faces the first industrial uprising against its austerity measures today as up to 750,000 public servants strike over planned changes to their pensions. A third of schools are expected to close and two-thirds of universities have cancelled lectures. Benefits will go unpaid, court cases will be postponed, police leave has been cancelled in London and airports are bracing themselves for backlogs at immigration. Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services union, said it was the most important strike in his union’s history. “Everything we have ever worked for is under attack,” he added. The government was trying to avoid inflaming the situation . David Cameron told the Commons: “What we are proposing is fair: it is fair to taxpayers but it is also fair to the public sector because we want to continue strong public sector pensions.” He said Labour was avoiding the issue, accusing the party of being “paid for by the unions [so] they can’t discuss the unions”. None of the four striking unions, with members in schools, colleges, universities and the civil service, is affiliated to the Labour party. Nearly every other union is poised to move towards strike action by the end of the year if the bitter standoff over public sector pension reforms is not resolved. Roads in central London will shut as thousands of people march in demonstrations that will be echoed across the country. Police leave has been cancelled so officers can cover for striking police community support officers, call handlers on the 999 lines and security staff. Some groups calling for peaceful civil disobedience are planning events in the capital. There were suggestions on the web that anarchists may target the events. Downing Street said it believed only one in five of the 500,000 civil servants would strike and predicted that a third of England’s 24,600 schools would close, a third would partially close and a third would be unaffected. Nearly 8,000 state schools have confirmed that they will either close or reduce lessons. Liverpool will be the worst hit city, with three-quarters of schools affected. In Newcastle, 72% of schools will be short-staffed or closed and in Manchester and Birmingham around half are affected. Up to 20,000 teachers in private schools may also go on strike. BAA said delays and disruption were possible at its airports, as up to 14,000 staff at the UK Border Agency affiliated to the PCS prepared to stage walkouts. UKBA advised airlines this week that passengers should rethink their travel plans amid fears of long queues at passport control, but then appeared to back away from that advice, saying it would work hard to keep delays to a minimum. The PCS said it expected delays at the port of Dover and Heathrow, Manchester and Gatwick airports. Ryanair called on the government to allow the army or police to staff passport booths and customs desks and said what it called union “headbangers” should not be allowed to disrupt flight schedules.

Posted by on June 29, 2011. Filed under News, Politics, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.