As previously reported on libcom, following their first ever strike coastguards are due to walk out alongside tens of thousands of other workers on April 24 over poor pay.
The first strike in the history of the MCA on 6 March drew strong support hitting emergency and 999 distress calls and led to the closure of nearly half of the UK's 19 rescue co-ordination centres. The remainder operated on a severely reduced service and were staffed by a handful of managers.
The latest strike days come against a backdrop of worsening industrial relations across the civil service due to the government's policy to cap the pay of some of the lowest paid in the public sector. Strike action over pay has so far hit the NHS Pensions Division, the Land Registry, the Department for Transport, the Driving Standards Agency (DSA), the Driver and Vehicle Licencing Agency (DVLA), Highways Agency, Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) and Vehicle Certification Agency. There has also been two strongly supported two day stoppages in the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) which hit Jobcentres, the Pension Service and Child Support Agency.
More information in libcom's UK pay disputes 2008 archive:
http://libcom.org/tags/pay-2008
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