Around 2M strike in UK over Public Pensions

Around 2M strike in UK over Public Pensions

Eleanor Smith, president of UNISON — the country's largest trade union which represents about 1 million health, education and law enforcement staff — said many joining the walkouts were striking for the first time.

"The government wants us to work longer, pay more and at the end get less. How fair is that?" said Smith, who joined a picket outside Birmingham Women's Hospital in central England, where she works as a nurse.

The one-day walkout has been called to oppose government demands that public sector staff work longer before receiving a pension and contribute more money each month, plans that are part of government austerity measures to get a grip on Britain's high borrowing levels.

Labor unions said as many as 2 million public sector staff were joining the strike, which would make it the largest since the infamous industrial dispute known as the Winter of Discontent in 1979, which presaged the arrival of Margaret Thatcher as prime minister.

Protesters were also denouncing sharp public spending cuts, the government extended Tuesday. Following a current freeze on public pay next year, pay raises will be limited to 1 percent through 2014.