Councils are warning of closed or reduced services today, as up to two million public sector workers go on strike over pay.
Trade union members voted for strike action earlier this month following a 1% pay offer by Local Government Employers.
Unison published a '10 reasons why 10 July is so important' list to mark the day, saying a pay cut for local government would not protect jobs. It sids that a pay freeze still led to wide-spread redundancies across the sector with many services stopped or privatised.
The union urged councils to use their reserves to pay staff a 'decent wage' saying the pay and conditions of local government workers are the worst in the public sector.
TUC general secretary, Frances O’Grady, said strike action was needed to prevent local government workers from being 'locked out of the recovery'. He said: 'Nearly half a million local government workers earn less than the living wage. But even as the economy starts to grow, ministers have told them that the pay cap will last until at least 2018.
'This is why today’s strikers deserve public support. They are saying that ordinary workers should not be locked out of the recovery, and that we should all get a fair share as the economy grows again.'
The Local Government Association (LGA) said it was 'disappointed’ with the national strike, with only 6% of council staff voting for industrial action. Our pre-strike survey also revealed that many employees don't think the strike will help improve pay and conditions across the sector.
Photo: flickr / Jon Jordan
