Strikes over public sector pensions hit services across UK as 2 million walk out
With a £2.8 billion rise in pension contributions by 2014/15, pegging the retirement age to the state pension age and moving staff from final salary schemes to career average schemes, 29 trade unions and 2 million people went out on strike on Wednesday.
This led 19,000 out of 21,700 schools in England and Wales to close or partially close; 6,000 out of 30,000 non-urgent operations to be cancelled and 135,000 civil servants on strike, representing just over a quarter of the civil service – collectively, making it the largest industrial action taken since the 1979 winter of discontent.
A YouGov poll commissioned by the TUC revealed people think that the average public sector pension is around £14,000 but that it ought to pay out more than £15,000 a year, there are a series of debates around whether the day of action will lead to more strikes, why public sector pensions are important and the role of unions.