Local government workers in Britain went on strike yesterday in a pensions dispute, causing travel chaos and closing schools and libraries in what unions said was the biggest such stoppage in 80 years.
The 24-hour stoppage by up to 1.5 million council employees disrupted other public services such as refuse collection, street cleaning and burials.
Unison, the biggest trade union involved, said early indications showed that workers were "solidly" supporting the industrial action, described by activists as the biggest of its kind since Britain's landmark General Strike in 1926.
The unions are protesting at plans by Prime Minister Tony Blair's government to scrap a rule allowing council staff to retire at 60 if their age and length of service add up to 85 years.
Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said the government had reached a deal last year with millions of civil servants, teachers and health workers allowing them to retire at 60.
"All we are asking for is the same kind of protection for council workers," Prentis said.
Picket lines were mounted outside council offices and local authority-run centers and libraries across the country, with a rally planned at Westminster Central Hall in London at 2pm.
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