More workers back pensions strike

Unite members have voted to join the strike over public sector pensions
12 April 2012

Probation officers, bus drivers, police civilians and museum staff are among the latest workers to back a pensions strike, increasing the prospect of the biggest day of industrial unrest for decades.

Unite and the National Association of Probation Officers (Napo) said their members had voted in favour of taking industrial action in protest at the Government's controversial pension reforms.

More than two million workers are now set to walk out on November 30 for a day of action co-ordinated by the TUC, which will disrupt schools, courts, Government offices, jobcentres, driving tests, council services and hospitals.

Unite said 75% of those who took part in its ballot said yes to taking part in the strike, with a 31% turnout covering more than 200 employers. Unite workers at Mersey Tunnels, Greater Manchester Transport, Glasgow City Council, Scottish Water, West Midlands Police Authority, Northern Ireland bus services, Cardiff buses, the British Film Institute, the British Museum and South Yorkshire Police were among those backing strikes.

The union said its vote should heap further pressure on the Government to rethink its plans to "force" public sector workers to pay more and work longer, but for a poorer pension in retirement.

General secretary Len McCluskey said: "Yet again public sector workers are telling the Government that enough is enough. They have endured wage cuts, rising living costs and horrific job losses as this Government forces the less well-off in this country to pay for the sins of the elite. They are not prepared to stomach this attack on their pensions too."

Napo said its members voted by a "massive" 83% in favour of industrial action on a 45% turnout. It will only be the third time in its 100-year history that Napo members will take national strike action.

Jonathan Ledger, Napo's general secretary, said: "Napo's members have sent the Government a clear message. Its attack on their pension entitlement is not fair, not reasonable and not necessary. They have joined the hundreds of thousands of hard-working public sector workers who are uniting in defence of their pensions, pensions earned after years of demanding work on behalf of our communities."

Labour leader Ed Miliband urged both sides in the dispute to negotiate, saying: "There is a huge responsibility on both sides, even at this late stage, to stop the strike happening. The unions need to show that they are willing to negotiate, the Government needs to show that it too is willing to negotiate."

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said: "We have listened to the concerns of public sector workers about their pensions and responded with a new generous settlement which is beyond the dreams of most private employees. I urge the trade unions to devote their energy to reaching agreement and not to unnecessary and damaging strike action, which is often on the basis of low turnout. In Unite's ballot, announced today, less than a third of their members actually voted."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in