Britain’s public sector unions will hold a national day of action on November 30 in protest at pension reforms, their leaders said yesterday, dubbing it the biggest mobilisation for a generation.

Brendan Barber, the head of the umbrella organisation the Trade Unions Congress (TUC), said 10 unions are planning to ballot their members on a strike although efforts to find a solution through talks would continue.

“If we don’t achieve a settlement to avert this, this will be the biggest trade union mobilisation for a generation,” he told reporters at the TUC’s annual conference in London.

Mr Barber said the day of action could include strikes, rallies and demonstrations.

“All of our unions most certainly do not take this step lightly. And we remain absolutely committed to seeking to resolve this through genuine negotiations,” he added. “But for that to succeed we need the government to take a new approach, to bring new proposals to the table, to engage in a genuine spirit of seeking agreement. We’ll be trying to achieve that.

“We’ll be meeting the government to continue the talks with them next week but if the talks don’t make progress then we’ll see that day of action on November 30.”