Schools closed in pension strike

Unison has praised the reaction to the strike

Thousands of schools are closed as local authority workers stage a 24-hour strike over pension rights.

Unions say that among those affected are 739 schools across Wales and 120 in the city of Liverpool.

School office staff, caretakers, cooks and cleaners are among workers staging a one-day strike over the right to retire at 60 years of age.

Up to 1.5m workers from 11 unions including Unison, T&G, GMB and Amicus are expected to walk out.

Unions are claiming it could be the largest strike since the General Strike of 1926.

Eighty schools and nurseries in Leeds and more than 60 schools in Hull are reportedly closed.

Public transport in Northern Ireland has been badly hit, and there are no buses to take children to school.

In Cardiff, the regional general secretary of Unison said the majority of council buildings, including schools, were closed, and the strike action was "solid".

Leisure centres, libraries, refuse collections and transport across the UK are all expected to be hit by the action.

Third less pension

They are protesting against plans to scrap the so-called 85 rule, which allows council workers to retire at 60 years of age on full pension if their age and length of service adds up to 85.

With the proposed changes, employees could instead have either to work until they were 65 or take one third less pension.

Teaching staff are not involved in the strike.

However, teaching union NASUWT says it is giving its full support to the action.

General Secretary Chris Keates said workers had been faced with "intransigent employer attitudes".

She said: "No public sector worker takes strike action lightly but it is absolutely clear that these workers are facing a grave injustice and have been left with little alternative.

They are not militant as a rule by they have no choice other than to strike Unison General Secretary Dave Prentice What is the strike about? Impact across the UK

"NASUWT supports fully the action being taken and has issued advice to all its members to ensure that they do not cover for or undertake any work which those on strike would normally have performed."

Unison General Secretary Dave Prentis said members had taken the decision to strike "very seriously indeed".

"These are real people who have paid 6% year in, year out to their pension scheme, and are now being treated like second-class citizens when it comes to paying out on their pensions.

"This immoral behaviour from employers is the very reason our members are angry and frustrated. They are not militant as a rule but they have no choice other than to strike."

T&G general secretary Tony Woodley said three quarters of the workers on strike were women, and said the government should not think they were a "pushover".

Unison claims the strike has had the following effects across the country:

• In the north, 650 schools and the universities of Sunderland and Northumbria closed
• 120 schools closed in Liverpool
• Up to 660 schools in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness closed
• In Suffolk, 20 schools are closed
• More than 400 schools closed in the East Midlands