Public Sector Strikes

Today hundreds and thousands 0f Public Sector Employees including Teachers and Civil servants are striking against recent government action against pensions. Various department pensions have been reduced prompting employees to pay in more and work for longer. Many supporters believe the only benefit of working in the public sector has been the pension scheme and that there is anger that this is now under threat.

Some of the disruptions include but are not limited to school closures for a third of schools in England and Wales with more than half the total disrupted. Delays at airports and on trains, and even some coastguards are on strike but The Maritime and Coastguard Agency say all coastguard stations are "operational and appropriately manned".

Labour leader Ed Miliband says the strikes are wrong because negotiations are still ongoing. But he says parents and the public have also been let down because the government has acted in a "reckless and provocative manner". Both sides need to "put aside the rhetoric" and "get round the table" to stop this kind of action happening again, he says.

Do the public sector employees think they're the only ones who are struggling? I understand the cuts to pensions in public sector jobs are an important part of people’s well being but the fact there haven’t even been any negotiations make it a selfish disruption to everyone else’s lives. The widespread opinion of the private sector is that at least public sector workers get a pension.

There are cuts everywhere; in the military pensions are reduced and family services cut, with no chance to strike or defend their future. Entry level soldiers only get £13K starting pay, who spend more than a third of their working life in awful and dangerous conditions away from family fighting for this country. These strikes will only harden public opinion, as it's the average hard working family that's affected.