THOUSANDS of people went on strike yesterday against the coalition government’s controversial public sector reforms over work pensions. It might not be the end of the industrial action either, with the unions warning of further action if the government don’t back down on their policies.
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| UNITED: Strike action and peaceful protests were the order of the day |
Yesterday, thousands of schools were shut across England and Wales, with passport control at airports, courts and driving test centres also being significantly affected. Earlier in the week, around 750,000 people were thought to be striking, with the figure thought to be much lower on the actual day. 600,000 is the estimated amount, with some 20,000 disgruntled workers protesting in the streets of London. Despite this, the unions insist that it was a success in the biggest day of strike action taken in Britain for five years.
The other pleasing significance was that in towns and cities across the country, the protests were in good spirit. Although a small minority of people were arrested in London and Brighton for criminal damage and harming the peace, it was good to see peaceful protests, which sadly didn’t happen with the angry demonstrations following the rise in tuition fees in November and December. However, the unions will be annoyed by Downing Street’s admission that the disruption of these strikes was ‘minimal.’
Both have sides to this argument. The government pointed out to statistics released from the Cabinet Office, which suggested that not even 20 per cent of the civil service workforce went on strike. In return, the PCS Union, which runs the police and border/immigration department, said that 84 per cent of its staff went onto the picket lines, with the Metropolitan Police being forced to draft people in from other areas.
Prime Minister David Cameron has described the strikes as ‘wrong,’ and the leader of the opposition, Ed Miliband is in agreement over this. However, Miliband has accused the government of ‘wreckless behaviour,’ which led to a fiery showdown between the pair in Prime Minister’s Questions on Wednesday morning. Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC told Sky News that he hoped this sort of action doesn’t have to happen again;
“I’m a firm believer of negotiations and as I’ve said, I hope we’re going to be able to resolve this through negotiations – without the need for further industrial action.”
It was schools, who were significantly affected by the walkouts yesterday, with nearly 5,000 schools partially closed and another 5,069 totally shut in England. Three teaching unions staged strike action, which left Education Secretary Michael Gove unimpressed. He said at the House of Commons that the planned walkout was “unnecessary, premature and disruptive. This strike, at this time, will not help out schools.”
It is difficult to judge if there were any winners, if there were any yesterday. However, don’t be surprised if there’s more action to come and for more disruption, as this is an issue for the government that simply isn’t going to go away.
