VIDEO: Thousands of civil servants march through Plymouth

MORE than 2,500 striking workers joined a march through the centre of Plymouth as part of the biggest walkout in a generation.

Unions hailed the strike by up to two million public sector workers across the country as "historic".

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They rejected claims by the Prime Minister that the biggest walkout in a generation had been a "damp squib".

The nationwide protest over pensions saw thousands of Plymouth workers walk off the job.

Public sector staff are enraged that Government is proposing to increase their pension contributions while at the same time cutting back on the amount they earn after retirement.

And this week the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced plans to raise the retirement age of those under 40 to 57.

"The Government's great pension robbery is going on," Naval Base worker Caroline Wills told The Herald.

At least 57 schools in the city were completely closed, and 77 out of the total of 94 were affected.

The streets of Plymouth were packed with parents and children making the most of the occasion to go Christmas shopping.

The day of action began at midnight on Tuesday with a candlelit vigil at Derriford Hospital. Picket lines began to form as early as 4.30am.

Passing motorists hooted to show their approval at sites ranging from Devonport Dockyard's Camel's Head gate to the Child Support Agency in Derriford.

At noon many workers and union activists gathered in front of Plymouth Guildhall for a march around the city.

Police Inspector Russell Sharpe and a team of five officers policed the march. He estimated that there were 2,000 to 2,500 protesters on the rally.

"It has all been good-natured," he said. "Obviously there has been some disruption to traffic for about 15 minutes but most people were very patient. There were no particular problems."

Derriford Hospital cancelled half of non-urgent elective operations in advance of the strike, which saw about ten per cent of staff staying away.

No exact figures were available from the hospital as it was reported that the Department of Health told NHS trusts they must not release figures for the number of strikers, saying a "national position" statement must be sent to the media ahead of any regional breakdowns.

Chris Webb, president of Plymouth Argyle Football Club and an activist for the Communication Workers' Union, was one of many union leaders who gave passionate speeches to strikers at the Holiday Inn in Armada Way.

Mr Webb, who chaired the group that helped to save Plymouth's football club, said: "The Government and the media are driving a race to the bottom.

"It should not be about driving standards down, but about driving everyone up to the highest standard.

"A Government that did not even get enough votes to govern on its own has a cheek to question the legitimacy of our strike.

"As a country we still suffer from Thatcher's legacy. We have had enough of the way we are being treated. Labour says they have sympathy. Shove your sympathy – we need support.

"Since 1997 Labour has let the workers down."

Plymouth Labour group leader Cllr Tudor Evans said: "I hope the Government will get back to the table and try to find a deal.

He said David Cameron's remark about the strike being "a damp squib" was "nothing short of arrogant and disgraceful".

"Most opinion polls showed that the action was supported by the majority of people. The Tory Government is out of touch. It has lost its way and lost its support.

"People can recognise daylight robbery when they see it."

Stuart Fegan of the GMB union said: "We hope the Government will reflect on a well-supported strike across the country. People don't strike because they want to. They strike because they have to."

David Cameron told the Commons that the "irresponsible and damaging" industrial action had been far from universally supported as he defended the Government's controversial pension reforms.

Officials from 30 unions involved in the strike reported huge support, with up to 90per cent of some organisations taking action, often for the first time in their lives.

The strike closed more than three quarters of schools in England, as well as some courts, museums, libraries and jobcentres, disrupted transport, hospitals and Government departments, and led to around 15per cent of driving tests being cancelled.

Thousands of civil servants march through the streets of Plymouth.

Tony Staunton speaks to civil servants following march through Plymouth.

PARENTS HARDEST HIT

PARENTS of schoolchildren were hardest hit as thousands of Plymouth workers took to the streets.

Pupils at 77 out of 94 city schools faced some disruption during yesterday's national public sector strike.

Hospital patients also faced delays as Derriford Hospital rearrange routine operations and appointments to cope with the strike, which did not affect doctors and nurses.

One in ten hospital workers stayed away. Helen O'Shea, interim chief executive for Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust, said contingency plans included rearranging some routine appointments and surgery.

"We deliberately reduced our outpatient appointments by a quarter and reduced approximately half of our elective operations.

"No departments have been closed as a result of today's action."

Plymouth city centre was packed as parents brought children into town for an unexpected day of Christmas shopping. Drake Circus shopping centre was "excessively busy" because of the strike, a spokesman said. Figures were not available until today, but he said the car park was full by 11am yesterday.

About 10 to 15 per cent of Plymouth City Council staff did not turn up for work.

The council's adult and children's services departments ran a minimum service prioritising emergencies and "life and limb" essential services.

But other areas such as housing benefit and refuse collections were as normal the council said.

Basic street cleansing was done, but some public toilets were closed.

Normal service was expected to resume today.

Steve Waite, Chief Executive of Plymouth Community Healthcare CIC which runs hospitals, clinics and GP-led health centres, said managers, frontline staff and trades unions worked together to ensure that all essential services continued to be delivered.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience to our patients."

The union Prospect said it interrupted, delayed or stopped work at more than 400 locations ranging from Plymouth to Aberdeen.

Some of union's 7,000 members, chiefly engineers and scientists, took action in Devonport naval base.

However, an MoD spokeswoman said: "Royal Navy operations have not been significantly affected."

Plymouth University said it was mostly "business as usual" as a small number of staff took part in the industrial action.

"All support and academic services remained accessible to our students," a spokeswoman said.

But City College Plymouth faced some disruption. Phil Davies, deputy principal, said: "The impact on students has been insignificant. It is too early yet to give precise numbers of teaching staff who took part in strike action but it seems to have been a relatively low turnout."

Devon and Cornwall police said numbers in the control room were slightly down, but not by as much as anticipated. Only police civilian staff were on strike.

"There has been a good turnout in the Plymouth call centre. We were anticipating being able to release a few uniformed officers who we had held back to cover those jobs."

Plymouth Magistrates scrapped one of their busiest courts, which is reserved for first-time offenders bailed by the police.

SPEAKERS CALL FOR UNITY AGAINST CUTS

SPEAKER after speaker urged workers to unite against austerity measures at the end of yesterday's trade union rally in Plymouth.

Marchers converged on the Holiday Inn in Armada Way, where they were addressed by local and national union chiefs.

"We are all here together because we are all under attack," Tony Staunton (pictured above right), secretary of Plymouth Trades Union Council said.

"We had to have a public demonstration to show that we are a force to be reckoned with. The crowd of 2,500 makes this the biggest demonstration in Plymouth in more than 30 years.

"It is a great and historic event that all 14 unions in Plymouth TUC have come together with many campaigning groups."

Sarah Allen-Melvin, Plymouth representative of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS), said: "The Government had ruled out any compromise on contributions and indexation.

"This will cost civil servants 20 per cent of their pensions. The cuts are not a necessity – they are a political choice."

She called on the Government to tackle the £120billion a year in "tax uncollected, avoided or evaded". "For company directors and bankers it seems to be pay as you like, not pay as you earn."

Sharon Battishill from Unison said domiciliary care workers could not afford to pay any more. "I have had a few tell me they are going to have to leave the pension scheme. That's a sad state this Government has got us into and it has got to stop."

Harriet Davis, a National Union of Teachers member from Tor Bridge Academy, and a mother, addressed herself "to angry parents who have lost a day's pay because schools have closed, or drivers stuck in traffic".

"The image that we are militant troublemakers is a long way from the truth. I am reluctant to be here.

"Claims that we have better pensions than the private sector are an attempt to drive a wedge between us. We need to stand up for what we believe is right and fair."

'Ryan' from the Occupy Plymouth camp faced heckling from some of the trade union crowd. He said: "It's days like today that people realise they are not standing alone. If we don't stand together we will fall."

Kathy Wallis, a Cornish member of the NASUWT national executive, said: "I chose to enter a contract whereby if I saved some of my pay they would give it back to me when I got to 60. Successive governments chose to squander my deferred payments and now they are blaming us.

"This Government chose to hit the workers directly in their pockets. They chose to make the public sector work longer and they chose to cut our pay rises.

"Unlike the unions, they don't have a mandate to do this.

"It's time to dispel the lies of the Government that pensions are gold-plated."

She said her union would be continuing industrial action, without closing schools."

Peter Allenson, national secretary for the Unite union, said: "We have had tremendous support from the public in Plymouth and we are aiming to make sure that working people are not divided.

"Unless you treat the workforce with respect you will not get decent service.

"The reason for the economic mess is the greed of international bankers – and they are still getting bonuses."

Pat Sikorski, assistant general secretary of the RMT union, which represents sailors with the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, said: "The divide between public and private sector is a nonsense. We have got to stand as workers together. This march was for everybody.

"United we stand, divided we fall.

"We provide a public service for everybody and that what they are trying to destroy.

"We can't afford to have this Government drag us back into the 1930s.

"And what of Labour? Ed Miliband, the party leader, has said we don't need to be on strike today. He has said a strike is a failure. It isn't a failure because it represents the will of the people."

YOUR VIEWS ON THE STRIKE

ALAN GOULDEN, 64, a retired nuclear engineer who lives in Brake Farm.

"The current situation is absolutely ridiculous.

"People nowadays have to work much longer hours for less money.

"At the end of the day it is the working class who suffer and you have got to feel sorry for them."

SHEILAGH SMITH, 67, who lives in Whitleigh, is a trade union representative for The Union of Shop, Distributive and Allied Workers (USDAW). She works at Tesco in Lee Mill.

"I think these people have the right to strike. It's the only thing they can do to get the message across.

"Things will only get worse if they don't do something about it.

"If they don't make a stand now the Government will erode all the benefits they have gained in the last few years."

Her husband, John Smith, 75: "My daughter is a school teacher who is out on strike.

"I'm proud of her standing up alongside all the other people. They've got to make a stand."

KEN VOSPER, 81, a former security guard who lives in Whitleigh.

"I sympathise for each and every one of them.

"They have no choice but to strike, it's fair enough.

"What else can they do? Sadly I don't think the Government will listen."

STEVE CASEY from Bittaford with daughter Masie, 3.

"My 12-year-old is off school from Ivybridge Community College.

"In a way I can understand the strike.

"I don't work at the moment but for those who do it must be making life very hard.

"One nurse I know has had to pay £100 for childcare for the day.

"It's all well and good them doing things like this and obviously they've got to do something, but it's the repercussions for everyone else."

JOY CHANTRELL, a retired Plymouth City Council worker.

"The Government is stealing our pensions and giving the money to the banks.

"The Lib Dems are letting people down by going with the Conservatives."

STUDENTS PHILIPPA BURCH and JASON AKEHURST.

"I feel for them because these people get such a bum deal," said 22-year-old Jason who lives in Mutley.

Philippa, 20, who lives in Calstock, added: "I can fully understand why all these people are on strike."

DOUGLAS CRAWFORD, 42, from Plymouth.

"It's criminal that the Government is cutting pensions.

"These are the people supporting society and we rely on them.

"The Government takes advantage of the fact that they actually care about the jobs they do."

CAROL AL-MOOSAWI and her grand-daughter Sarah, 8, a pupil at St Budeaux Foundation School.

"It seems to me the only time you get heard is when you do something like this. People are standing up for their rights."