UK workers strike over pay

Hundreds of thousands of British local government workers went on strike yesterday in a dispute over pay that paralysed services from education to rubbish collection.

The pay dispute is a test of the Labour government's nerve at a time when it is languishing far behind the opposition Conservatives in polls and trying to fight soaring inflation by forcing public sector workers to accept modest wage deals.

"Everywhere our members will be solid. Today and tomorrow nearly 600,000 of our members will be on strike. It will be one of the biggest strikes since the general strike of 1926," Dave Prentis, boss of the public service union Unison told BBC radio. The Local Government Association, which represents employers, said it believed only about a quarter of staff would walk out, or 300,000 workers.

With inflation at its highest in over a decade, the Labour government is urging wage restraint to help contain prices. But public sector workers want more cash to offset rising costs.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown can ill afford to fall out of favour with Labour's traditional trade union supporters as he faces a risk of defeat in the next election due by May 2010.

"Local government workers are the core support for the Labour party and that is eroding," said Kenny Bell, a 57-year-old council worker on strike in Newcastle.

"Unless the government recognises our concerns they will not get re-elected in two years. The hike in fuel and food costs is hitting us hard. People are genuinely struggling."

More than a million working days were lost to industrial disputes last year, the most since 2002 and almost double the annual average since Labour came to power in 1997.

However, Mr Brown has shown no appetite for softening his stance on pay and government's current tussle with the unions is a far cry from the 1970s and 1980s when days lost to disputes averaged about 13 million per year and seven million per year respectively.

In line with government policy, the Local Government Association has kept wage settlements for its workers broadly in line with the official two per cent inflation target - offering most staff a 2.45 percent increase.