local government

One of the biggest outbreaks of industrial unrest for years will see tens of thousands of job centre workers, coastguards, driving examiners and other Government employees join a strike next month by council employees.

More than half a million local authority workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland are staging a two-day walkout on July 16 and 17 after rejecting a 2.45% pay offer.

UNISON balloted for strike action after rejecting a 2.45% pay offer. The government's 2% pay increase target for public sector pay has become increasingly stark against inflation - with sharp increases in the cost of fuel and basic necessities internationally.

UNISON members were given the green light for a ballot on industrial action after rejecting the pay offer from employers.

The offer is below the current inflation rate of 4.2% and less that the increase in average earnings across the economy.

The offer is for a 2.45% increase, with an additional £100 flat rate increase on the very lowest three scale points.

Employer attacks on workers' pay is the main issue at stake.

Teachers in the NUT are walking out over their pay deal which was supposed to be revised when inflation rose, but the government refused: effectively cutting their wages.

Council workers will be protesting against the new pay and grading system imposed by Birmingham council last week, affecting 40,000 staff.

UNISON has branded the structure discriminatory. Though it was designed to end wage inequalities, some workers will lose up to half their pay.

Following a proposal of three years of sub-inflationary pay rises UNISON Head of Health, Karen Jennings, said that she would be "asking our executive to consider recommending this deal to members as a well-balanced package"

The proposed deal gives 2.75% in the first year.

In year 2 it gives 2.54%. Those on the lowest point will receive an increase of 5.7%.

Nipsa said the axing of 450 jobs by the Housing Executive was just "the tip of the iceberg". Thousands of public sector posts could go due to an efficiency drive aiming to raise £790m. The government say no staff reduction target has been set.

The pension reform raises the retirement age for women to 65 and workers in hazardous industries will have to work an extra two years. Many accuse the conservative government of going back on pre-election promises not to cut pension rights.

It was the second 48-hour stoppage in protest of the imposed three-year pay deal, which works out as an average 1% a year for some staff.

The government's reforms would mean the merging of pension funds and increasing the pension age for some workers. The government, however, has not made public any details on the size of savings that will accrue from the reforms. The trade unions have also argued that the current pension system could survive if bosses were made to pay their contributions.

Last week Nottingham Indymedia spoke with Barbara, who has worked in Nottingham's libraries for many years. In this interview she voices her anger over the decision by the City Council to introduce uniforms for library staff. More so, she talks about the ever degrading library service and the bully tactics deployed by City Council managers to keep its staff in line..

In the capital Harare, the strike has been compounded by the ongoing strike by council workers who downed tools last Wednesday, demanding a rise in their salaries.

This cash-strapped city reached a tentative deal with its police and firefighters unions Thursday, just before city leaders convened to decide if the city would seek bankruptcy protection from a swell of economic uncertainty.

That question remains unresolved, however, as details of the deal will be made public today before the council revisits the issue Monday.

The one day strike will hit driving tests, regional centres controlling the flow of motorway traffic as well as the half yearly introduction of new number plates, and is in response to a series of below inflation pay offers and widening pay gaps between the predominantly female staffed DVLA and the predominantly male DfT and related agencies.

Workers are making a series of demands, many related to reforms of the antiquated civil service statutes, many of which haven't changed since 1958, shortly after independence.

The strikes have virtually paralysed the country as workers nation-wide seek to defend their pensions and protest against a government that has broken its promises.

The renewed threat of closures resurrects a plan which local people had believed to be over when a community campaign overturned the proposed closure of 22 schools and four community centres in the city last year.

After a grants round which saw a large drop in funding for some sectors, cutbacks are set to bite heavily in North Yorkshire and the South West.