Articles | Widespread strikes to hit UK

Widespread strikes to hit UK

Published: Tuesday, 15 July 2008, 7:17PM

Tens of thousands of council workers and civil servants are set to strike in bitter disputes over pay.

The walkout by members of three unions will lead to the closure of schools, libraries, museums and civic offices across England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Refuse collections will also be cancelled and a host of other services disrupted.

Unison and Unite said they expected more than half a million workers to join the 48-hour walkout on Wednesday and Thursday - the biggest bout of industrial unrest for years - in protest at a rejected 2.45 per cent pay offer.

In a separate pay row, members of the Public and Commercial Services union, including driving test examiners and coastguards will take industrial action in the next few days.

Council workers will stage rallies in towns and cities across the country during the strike, which will heap more pressure on the Prime Minister as he grapples with the country's economic problems.

The increase in the Consumer Price Index to 3.8 per cent and RPI inflation to 4.8 per cent heightened the resolve of workers to secure a bigger pay rise this year, the unions said.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: "The pounds in local government workers' pockets are turning to pennies.

"The cost of everyday essentials like milk, bread, petrol, gas and electricity are going through the roof - our members cannot afford to take another cut in their pay.

"Strike action is always a last resort but we have been left with no choice.

"Local government employers are sitting on £3 billion worth of efficiency savings made by our members they could use to settle the strike now.

"There is no need to ask the Government for more, no need to put up council taxes and no need to cut jobs or services."

Jan Parkinson, managing director of the local government employers, said: "It is disappointing that the unions are taking staff out on strike when only 7 per cent of them voted for industrial action.

"Council workers will lose two days' pay and many of them can ill-afford this."