Thousands of public sector workers on strike across Plymouth
THOUSANDS of public sector workers were expected to strike today causing disruption across the city.
The nationwide day of action is part of growing opposition to Government pension plans, pay freezes and job losses.
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In Plymouth, 58 schools were either shut or partially closed. Other workplaces including the Department of Work and Pensions, UK Border Agency, the crown and magistrates courts and the Land Registry were expected to function with a ‘skeleton staff’, union representatives said.
Up to 3,000 union members were expected to miss work across the city and two rallies and a march were also planned as part of the protest.
Andy Woolley, South West regional secretary of National Union of Teachers (NUT), said the union had called on 1,100 members to strike and he expected 1,084 to take part.
He said: “We are fairly clear that the vast majority of our members will take part today.
“The fact that so many teachers are taking this action and that many have joined the union in the past few weeks is an indication of the strength of feeling about the injustice of this issue.”
Union members are angry at Coalition plans to raise the public sector retirement age from 60 to 66, move from a final salary scheme to a career-average and hike contributions by 3.2 per cent.
Mr Woolley said that together with the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) members he expected 1,500 teaching staff to strike.
Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said they expected 80 per cent of their 1,350 Plymouth members to take part today. PCS include the Department for Work and Pensions which makes up a quarter of their membership, the Ministry of Justice, the Crown Prosecution Service, Revenue and Customs, UK Border Agency and coast guards.
Gordon Rowntree who is an Industrial Officer for PCS in the South West, said: “It is no wonder that our members are angry and have voted to take action when we are seeing tens of thousands of jobs lost, resulting in a far poorer service to the public.
“When pay is frozen at a time of high inflation and when we are being asked to pay more for our pensions resulting in what can only be described as pension tax on our members they will see their pay cut by around three per cent in an ideological step to help pay off the deficit.”
Colm Porter, PCS Regional Organiser for the South West Region, said: “We would expect that services will be severely affected and where services are running we would expect it to be on a skeleton staffing.”
The union didn’t expect employers to break strike action by bringing in temporary workers as this would be in breach of the conduct of employment agencies and employment business regulation 2003, he added.
University and Colleges Union (UCU) said they had advised all of their 1,000 Plymouth members to strike, which was what the members had voted for, Philipa Carey, Plymouth UCU officer said.
She said she expected the vast majority to show their support by attending protest events across the city.
Unions have claimed up to 10 million people will be involved in walkouts nationally, making it the biggest industrial action since the 1926 general strike.
There are due to be picket lines at Job Centres, City College, Plymouth University and Marjon. At midday there will be a protest march through the city centre followed by a mass rally at the Guildhall.
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by timplymouth
Friday, July 01 2011, 12:10PM
“lgdavis28 you claim the pensions are not "gold plated" and then you go on to claim you are going to "lose out" on £250,000 and still have a pension scheme better than most private sector pensions. Make your mind up.”
by bigroger12
Friday, July 01 2011, 11:01AM
“well look whats happend they have won again the mps have us sl@@ing each other off and runing around like head less chickens thinking what are we going to do and the govenment are just like the magic man watch my right hand and the left is nicking something else what we should do is go back to roman times were there i one rep for devon and he goes to london and we need roads and more jobs and then whats happends is if there is a enough money in the pot to do it they did and were would be no need for all the mess the is govenment we should all work together think hqw much money we would save on mps and lords wages and we could do the same in local councils ?”
by SKoM_
Friday, July 01 2011, 9:34AM
“Thornbackray: gods help whoever's pay you calculated. However you cut it, paying 20% tax on 2 incomes doesn't mean you pay 40% tax, it's basic math.
BTW, I have run payroll including taxable benefits, done management and financial accounts plus tax returns (company and self employed) etc etc.”
by lgdavis28
Friday, July 01 2011, 9:25AM
“Qwertywertysquirty, its not a gold plated sodding pension so stop your moaning. Its a pension that teachers have earnt. Why is it right that a teacher at the age of 65 (who most people would regard as past their prime) should have to teach young pupils who can run riot? why cant they be better utilised elsewhere? why should teachers have to lose nearly £250,000 in their lifetime for a pension they have rightly earnt? teachers pay thousands of ££££ to get to where they are in their careers, why can't they have perks to their job for working so hard to get there?
I can't remember rubbing my hands together in glee and planning to work in the public sector because of the pensions or because it was an easy option. Nascently political, I wanted to teach in state schools so I did. But teacher pensions are a perk in a job where you get yelled at by parents on a daily basis, abused occasionally by the kids you try to teach and ****ged off regularly by the media and politicians. It's frustrating and annoying when train drivers or airport staff go on strike but it's a last resort and it lets the world know how fed up people are.
Apparently it is lawful to change the contractsof public servants to mess around with their pension arrangements that the two contracted parties signed up to at the time of commencement of the employment. However, when it comes to restricting the obscene bonuses of bankers the government's response is that these bonuses are part of the bankers contracts. Legally they could sue the banks for changing their contract, yet public wokers have to deal with the cuts. Why is this allowed?”
by swoop3
Friday, July 01 2011, 7:39AM
“Only 2ft and messy at the moment, Orwell510. I blame the EU.”
by qwertyytrewqw
Thursday, June 30 2011, 9:58PM
“This is what we should be on our streets protesting about ..... The EU ... not gold plated pensions for left wing teachers !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
by Orwell510
Thursday, June 30 2011, 9:58PM
“qwerty - dude, chill. Stop being so xenophobic and angry... go for a surf or something.”
by qwertyytrewqw
Thursday, June 30 2011, 9:53PM
“Got o say it like that or it get banned . The EU dont like like it .... nor do the so called "free press".”
by qwertyytrewqw
Thursday, June 30 2011, 9:50PM
“When will the effing hell myou wake uop to whats happening !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
by qwertyytrewqw
Thursday, June 30 2011, 9:47PM
“Argue all you like .... the fact of the matter is .... you pay your taxes so that places like Greece ( bakers - schoool teachers etc) can retire at the age of 50. This retirement gives you 90 % of your last years earnings for tyhe rest of your life ..... no questions asked ,
Guess who is paying for this ? Durrrrrrr !!!!!!!!! Its you whoooooooo .”