Hundreds of thousands of municipal employees went on strike across Britain yesterday, closing schools, libraries, museums and leisure centers in their first such national walkout in more than two decades.
The 24-hour strike over pay in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, also affected social workers, architects, garbage collectors and staff preparing for the July 25 to Aug. 4 Commonwealth Games in Manchester. Unions agreed to exempt some services from the action, including meals on wheels, cemeteries and emergency services in areas such as social work.
PHOTO: REUTERS
The strike was approved in separate votes by three unions representing, among others, transport workers, manual laborers, and white-collar employees such as office managers and architects of public housing and public works projects.
The unions said at least 750,000 workers had walked out, with the number growing by the hour.
The unions, who are seeking a 6-percent raise and have rejected the government's 3-percent offer, have threatened further strikes. The municipalities that employ them have said they can't afford such an increase, and the central government has shown no sign of intervening.
"There have not been proper negotiations since the beginning of the year," John Edmonds, an official with the GMB general workers' union, told British Broadcasting Corp radio. "There's a very big problem of low pay in local government."
But Sir Jeremy Beecham, head of the Local Government Association, said the 3-percent offer was fair and that many union members had voted against the strike.
The strike was approved by 56 percent of members of the Unison union, while GMB members voted 66 percent in favor, and members of the Transport and General Workers' Union voted 80 percent in favor of a strike.
It forced hundreds of public schools to close, with some local education authorities reporting almost a total shutdown. However, other officials said their schools were largely unaffected.
For example, in Newcastle upon Tyne in northern England, all but three of the authority's dozens of primary and secondary schools were closed, while in Wrexham, north Wales, the council said all schools were staying open.
Thousands of school maintenance workers, teaching assistants, cafeteria workers and other support staff were joining the walkout.
Picket lines were set up outside council offices and buildings in some towns and cities, while union rallies were held in others.
"The issues in the dispute are not just about pay, it's about respect and it's about dignity in the workplace," said Bill Morris, general secretary of the Transport and General Workers' Union.
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