U.K. Faces Massive Strike In Protest Of Austerity Measures
Members of Britain's University and College Union (UCU) pose for members of the media as they prepare for their union strike and march scheduled for Thursday. Lefteris Pitarakis/AP hide caption
Members of Britain's University and College Union (UCU) pose for members of the media as they prepare for their union strike and march scheduled for Thursday.
Lefteris Pitarakis/APThe United Kingdom will face a strike of as many as 750,000 public sector employees, tomorrow. The Independent calls it the biggest strike in five years and is expected to cause "huge disruption" in schools, courts and travel.
Hundreds of thousands of teachers, lecturers, civil servants and other workers will walk out for 24 hours in protest at controversial plans to change their pensions, cut jobs and freeze pay.
Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services union, said it was the most important strike in his union's history, adding: "Everything we have ever worked for is under attack."
The Prime Minister launched a fresh attack on the strike, while business leaders warned it will have a "significant impact" on industry.
As Mark reported earlier austerity measures just passed by Parliament have caused violent protests in Greece. In England, students protested tuition hikes in November of 2010. In May of last year, France faced strikes and violent protests when the country decided to overhaul the country's pension system.
British business secretary Vince Cable said the public will not support tomorrow's strike.
"The public view would be that we are negotiating and are willing to negotiate, so why would people be out on strike until that process has run its course?" The Guardian quotes Cable as saying.
The Guardian is also live-blogging the impending strike.