Jimmy Haddow (SPS)
10th May 2012, 12:23
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/60139000/jpg/_60139795_014712300-1.jpg Union leaders say up to 400,000 workers will strike while the government says it will be half that
Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers are taking part in a 24-hour UK-wide strike in a dispute with the government over pension changes.
The government says current pension schemes are unfair - and unaffordable because people are living longer.
But the unions say members are being "robbed" and will have to pay more and work longer for lower pensions.
Meanwhile, the government has said that walkouts by prison service staff in England and Wales are unlawful.
Among the public sector workers taking part in the 24-hour strike are civil servants, NHS workers - including paramedics - border force staff and lecturers.
And 20,000 off-duty police officers are expected at a rally in London to protest against cuts.
Union leaders say up to 400,000 workers will strike while the government says it is more likely to be half that number.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union - which estimates that an "overwhelming majority" of its 250,000 public sector members are on strike - told BBC Radio 5 live the cost of pensions was falling as a proportion of GDP.
I'm disappointed that a handful of unions are striving to carry on with union action which is going to benefit no-one and is going to inconvenience the public” Lady Warsi Conservative Party chairman
"We pay more and not a penny goes into anybody's pension fund," he said.
"In every major public sector scheme - health, education and the civil service - the majority of trade unions have refused to accept these cuts in their pensions."
He added: "We're going to have the highest pension age of any western European country."
The government plans to raise the retirement age in line with the state pension age - eventually to rise to 68.
But Conservative Party chairman Lady Warsi told BBC News that workers were being asked to "to work a little bit longer and to pay a bit more but they will be guaranteed a pension which is index-linked and inflation proof".
"I'm disappointed that a handful of unions are striving to carry on with union action which is going to benefit no-one and is going to inconvenience the public."
Strike action includes:
Business hit at the Welsh Assembly as Labour and Plaid Cymru members refuse to cross picket lines while National Museum for Wales closed to public, PCS says
About 5,000 NHS workers on strike in Wales with patients facing delays rather than cancellation, the BBC's Hywel Griffith says
Work on Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships in port in Birkenhead and Portland halted, according to the Rail Maritime and Transport union
Seven national museums as well as Tate Gallery closed in Liverpool, PCS says
Picket line outside the HQ of Maritime and Coastguard Agency in Southampton
30,000 PCS members striking in Scotland, the union says, with picket lines at job centres, tax offices, Scottish government offices, the Scottish Parliament, Faslane nuclear base and both Edinburgh and Stirling Castles
Prison officers across Scotland have walked out
'Ultimate public service'
Government proposals to be considered in Parliament - as featured in the Public Service Pensions Bill detailed in the Queen's Speech on Wednesday - seek substantially increased employee contributions.
Thursday's protest is to all intents and purposes a traditional piece of industrial action, albeit by people who cannot withdraw their labour”
BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani
Why officers are taking to the street (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/18018990%20-%20Police%20fight%20to%20see%20off%20changes)
As well as increasing the retirement age, the government also proposes that final-salary schemes will eventually be replaced by less generous career-average schemes.
In a central London march, thousands of off-duty officers are expected to take part in the biggest police rally since a 2008 protest against a pay award imposed by the Labour government.
Organiser the Police Federation said its members - who are prevented by law from taking industrial action - were protesting against a reduction in the number of officers, a lack of consultation over plans for reform, and pay and pensions.
The federation's PC Julie Nesbitt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the police service was "the ultimate public service".
"We are the people without whom the rest of the public services shouldn't function and therefore we should be treated according to that," she said.
"And, also, we don't have the same rights as others in the public sector so we don't have industrial rights so we can't do anything about the poor treatment we are receiving."
BBC Home Affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani said the police protest was, to all intents and purposes, a traditional piece of industrial action, albeit by people who cannot withdraw their labour (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/18018990).
'Too fast'
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, who is marching with police officers today, said 16,000 were being lost across the country which was "irresponsible and taking a risk with crime".
She told BBC News that Labour supported some cuts but added: "The government is going too far and too fast, the sheer scale of the cuts that they are making is deeply damaging.
If there is a surprise at the action today, it is that we haven't seen more of it. ”
BBC home editor Mark Easton
Striking while the iron is cool (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/18018051%20-%20Striking%20while%20the%20iron%20is%20cool)
"The fragmented and chaotic way in which they're making reforms is, in fact, likely to make it worse and make it harder to get good results in the community and and bring crime down."
But Policing Minister Nick Herbert told 5 live: "Police officers will continue to be rewarded for doing an exceptional job but they do earn more than other members of the emergency services and are able to earn overtime."
On public sector pensions generally he said: "If you were in the private sector and you had to pay for the equivalent pensions that are going to be provided it would cost you around a third of pay.
"Isn't this a question of fairness for the majority of taxpayers who aren't in receipt of these pensions?"
Meanwhile at Heathrow Airport, where border staff are striking, the BBC's Tom Symonds said most passengers had passed through without problems.
But there had been some long queues at Terminal Three with some non-European Economic Area passengers queuing for about an hour-and-a-half, according to airport sources.
This would worry a prime minister whose central mission was the idea of building an active citizenry, he added.
The unions taking part on Thursday are: the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the largest civil service trade union; Unite, representing NHS workers, Ministry of Defence firefighters and others; the University and College Union; the Immigration Services Union; Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and the Northern Ireland Public Services Alliance.
Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers are taking part in a 24-hour UK-wide strike in a dispute with the government over pension changes.
The government says current pension schemes are unfair - and unaffordable because people are living longer.
But the unions say members are being "robbed" and will have to pay more and work longer for lower pensions.
Meanwhile, the government has said that walkouts by prison service staff in England and Wales are unlawful.
Among the public sector workers taking part in the 24-hour strike are civil servants, NHS workers - including paramedics - border force staff and lecturers.
And 20,000 off-duty police officers are expected at a rally in London to protest against cuts.
Union leaders say up to 400,000 workers will strike while the government says it is more likely to be half that number.
Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the PCS union - which estimates that an "overwhelming majority" of its 250,000 public sector members are on strike - told BBC Radio 5 live the cost of pensions was falling as a proportion of GDP.
I'm disappointed that a handful of unions are striving to carry on with union action which is going to benefit no-one and is going to inconvenience the public” Lady Warsi Conservative Party chairman
"We pay more and not a penny goes into anybody's pension fund," he said.
"In every major public sector scheme - health, education and the civil service - the majority of trade unions have refused to accept these cuts in their pensions."
He added: "We're going to have the highest pension age of any western European country."
The government plans to raise the retirement age in line with the state pension age - eventually to rise to 68.
But Conservative Party chairman Lady Warsi told BBC News that workers were being asked to "to work a little bit longer and to pay a bit more but they will be guaranteed a pension which is index-linked and inflation proof".
"I'm disappointed that a handful of unions are striving to carry on with union action which is going to benefit no-one and is going to inconvenience the public."
Strike action includes:
Business hit at the Welsh Assembly as Labour and Plaid Cymru members refuse to cross picket lines while National Museum for Wales closed to public, PCS says
About 5,000 NHS workers on strike in Wales with patients facing delays rather than cancellation, the BBC's Hywel Griffith says
Work on Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships in port in Birkenhead and Portland halted, according to the Rail Maritime and Transport union
Seven national museums as well as Tate Gallery closed in Liverpool, PCS says
Picket line outside the HQ of Maritime and Coastguard Agency in Southampton
30,000 PCS members striking in Scotland, the union says, with picket lines at job centres, tax offices, Scottish government offices, the Scottish Parliament, Faslane nuclear base and both Edinburgh and Stirling Castles
Prison officers across Scotland have walked out
'Ultimate public service'
Government proposals to be considered in Parliament - as featured in the Public Service Pensions Bill detailed in the Queen's Speech on Wednesday - seek substantially increased employee contributions.
Thursday's protest is to all intents and purposes a traditional piece of industrial action, albeit by people who cannot withdraw their labour”
BBC home affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani
Why officers are taking to the street (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/18018990%20-%20Police%20fight%20to%20see%20off%20changes)
As well as increasing the retirement age, the government also proposes that final-salary schemes will eventually be replaced by less generous career-average schemes.
In a central London march, thousands of off-duty officers are expected to take part in the biggest police rally since a 2008 protest against a pay award imposed by the Labour government.
Organiser the Police Federation said its members - who are prevented by law from taking industrial action - were protesting against a reduction in the number of officers, a lack of consultation over plans for reform, and pay and pensions.
The federation's PC Julie Nesbitt told BBC Radio 4's Today programme the police service was "the ultimate public service".
"We are the people without whom the rest of the public services shouldn't function and therefore we should be treated according to that," she said.
"And, also, we don't have the same rights as others in the public sector so we don't have industrial rights so we can't do anything about the poor treatment we are receiving."
BBC Home Affairs correspondent Dominic Casciani said the police protest was, to all intents and purposes, a traditional piece of industrial action, albeit by people who cannot withdraw their labour (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/18018990).
'Too fast'
Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper, who is marching with police officers today, said 16,000 were being lost across the country which was "irresponsible and taking a risk with crime".
She told BBC News that Labour supported some cuts but added: "The government is going too far and too fast, the sheer scale of the cuts that they are making is deeply damaging.
If there is a surprise at the action today, it is that we haven't seen more of it. ”
BBC home editor Mark Easton
Striking while the iron is cool (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/18018051%20-%20Striking%20while%20the%20iron%20is%20cool)
"The fragmented and chaotic way in which they're making reforms is, in fact, likely to make it worse and make it harder to get good results in the community and and bring crime down."
But Policing Minister Nick Herbert told 5 live: "Police officers will continue to be rewarded for doing an exceptional job but they do earn more than other members of the emergency services and are able to earn overtime."
On public sector pensions generally he said: "If you were in the private sector and you had to pay for the equivalent pensions that are going to be provided it would cost you around a third of pay.
"Isn't this a question of fairness for the majority of taxpayers who aren't in receipt of these pensions?"
Meanwhile at Heathrow Airport, where border staff are striking, the BBC's Tom Symonds said most passengers had passed through without problems.
But there had been some long queues at Terminal Three with some non-European Economic Area passengers queuing for about an hour-and-a-half, according to airport sources.
This would worry a prime minister whose central mission was the idea of building an active citizenry, he added.
The unions taking part on Thursday are: the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the largest civil service trade union; Unite, representing NHS workers, Ministry of Defence firefighters and others; the University and College Union; the Immigration Services Union; Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union members in the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, and the Northern Ireland Public Services Alliance.