Last Updated: 16 July 2008

UNISON members strike for fair pay

(16/07/08) Hundreds of thousands of local government workers have started a two-day strike for fair pay, in protest at a 2.45% pay offer.

UNISON members say they have no choice but to strike – with the cost of living spiralling out of control, they cannot afford to accept a pay cut.

They are out in force at picket lines, rallies and marches across England, Northern Ireland and Wales.

Members in Scotland are being balloted on whether to take action over a similar below-inflation pay offer.

Many of them are among the lowest-paid workers in the UK, earning less than £6.50 an hour. Two-thirds of them are women.

All of them have told their union they are struggling to make ends meet.

These workers provide valuable frontline public services, doing vital jobs in local communties. They are the people who clean our streets and schools, conduct our marriages and civil partnerships, care for our parks, check the safety of our food, look after our children and frail elderly people, and so much more.

But they are not well rewarded, and food, fuel and energy prices are going through the roof.

Though these 600,000 UNISON members can ill afford to lose two days’ pay, they are taking action today and tomorrow to send a clear message to the employers that enough is enough: it’s time for a fair deal.

Messages of support for the strikers have been flooding in from around the world. Click here to read what they say or to add your own message.

Click here for rolling news of the strike action