2 Million Public Sector Workers To Strike in the UK

By: EW News Desk Team   Date: 29 November 2011

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EW News Desk Team

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EconomyWatch, News Desk Team

 

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29 November 2011

More than 2 million workers are planning a mass strike against the government’s pensions reform scheme, a figure that looks set to bring the UK to a standstill. The planned walkout, the Government says, will cost the economy £500 million and lead to job losses.

According to the BBC, public sector workers across the UK are due to go on strike over proposed changes to pensions for public sector workers. In essence, the changes would see public sector workers work longer before reaching retirement age, pay more into their pensions, and accept lower payouts on their pensions.

David Cameron, the prime minister, condemns public-sector walkout over pension cuts as the “height of irresponsibility,” arguing that the controversial reforms are necessary because people are living longer, and because the gap between contributions and pension payments is growing.

Related: Pension Changes

Related: Pension Contribution

Related: UK Pensions

"We have put forward, I think, a very fair and very reasonable offer in terms of public sector pensions. And I think this strike is completely wrong," Cameron said on Monday."It won't change anyone's approach or anyone's view but it is going to put a lot of families at a huge inconvenience and I would appeal, even at this last minute, to trade union leaders to say that they shouldn't go ahead with this strike. It is not going to achieve anything and it will be damaging to our economy."

The planned walkout is expected to be the largest in Britain’s history, surpassing the 1926 general strike when about 1.75 million people joined walkouts. On Saturday, the government warned that Wednesday’s strike could lead to wider implications – such as tougher laws on industrial action.

Almost 30 trade unions are set to participate in the strike. Many public services are set to be disrupted nationwide, from medical, to refuse and tax collection, school, public transport and even airports as immigration officials also plan to join in.

Cameron’s coalition government is planning to raise pension contributions by an average of 3.2 percent (of salaries) over the next three years. The increase, for some is almost double of existing pension contributions, is part of tough austerity measures to reduce the country’s deficit amidst the global debt crisis.

Furthermore, the Treasury expects that the strike would incur a £500 million bill and put some people out of jobs. Francis Maude, minister for the Cabinet office, suggests that this would likely be because of the correlation between economic output and the loss of employment.

“Exactly what that relationship is very hard to anticipate but if we lose a big chunk of output it is hard to see how that does not translate into fewer jobs,” said Maude. 

Related Infographic: The pension crisis: Raise the retirement age? 


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