Schools and services hit amid massive UK public sector strike

UK public sector strikes are taking place across the UK in a series of disputes with the government over pay, pensions, and budget cuts.

12:28 10 July 2014

Firefighters, librarians, and council staff are among the people working in the UK public sector who are taking part in strikes across the country in series of disputes with the government over pay, pension, and cuts. It is expected that more than one million workers will join the action.

However, the Cabinet Office said that it seemed most workers were at work as usual. A spokesman for the cabinet office said that the “vast majority” had not voted for the strike. 

The biggest issue among public sector workers is pay after ministers froze their salaries in 2010 and introduced a 1per cent cap on pay rises in 2012, leading some to believe that they were £4,000 a year worse off than they should be.

Unison boss Mr Prentis told BBC Breakfast: "When Cameron brought in the two-year pay freeze, our local government workers, our members, had already had a one-year pay freeze.

"So they've had a three-year pay freeze and then a 1% increase when inflation has gone up by something like 20%.”

A Labour Party spokesman said: "No-one wants to see a strike, not least because of the impact on children and parents.

"Instead of ramping up the rhetoric the government should get round the table, because both sides have a responsibility to stop it happening."