There are hundreds of reasons why workers are walking out together against the Tories on 30 November. But the key issue that has united the unions is the government attack on public sector pensions.
As the truth about pensions has leaked out, ministers have started to panic. They have reacted with spin and bluster to try and conceal the real effects of their proposals.
The Tories, like many governments around the world, are hell bent on forcing ordinary people to pay for a crisis they didn’t create. They say the budget deficit—the gap between government revenues and spending—is too high.
Kama Abu Aita, president, Egyptian Federation of Independent Trade Unions
The government is in a panic about this week’s public sector strikes. Ministers have spent the past week bleating on about the impact that the action will have.
Tory ministers meet any complaint about their assault on public sector pensions with the line: "But it’s worse for workers in the private sector." But public sector workers’ pensions are not responsible for poor pensions in the private sector.
The government has lashed out at pretty much everyone in its attempt to drive through an assault on workers in Britain. Sometimes it says that "greedy" public sector workers are the reason that cuts must be made. At other times the Tories lay into people who can’t find work or those on benefits.
If I don’t strike today and lose a day’s pay for doing so, I’ll lose a day’s pay a month every year thanks to the Tory attacks.
