On Thursday the people arriving at the British airports were warned to expect delays due to the strike against proposed pension reforms and plans to raise their retirement age by thousands of public sector workers.

An estimated 600,000 workers walked out of their jobs in the first of a wave of strikes expected in coming months and due to which many schools across the country were closed and work at airports, courts, government offices, museums and libraries were disrupted.

To tackle economic crisis caused by a huge budget deficit, Conservative-Lib Deum launched these rigorous measures. But according to the workers, they would have to work longer hours for reduced pension.

According to Mark Serwotka, general secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, the members were left with options but to take action against the government proposals as they were not ready to compromise any central issues of the strike.

Thousands of protestors, protested in London and other cities, with banners carrying messages such as ‘No Cuts’ and ‘Cuts Hurt’.

The strike was ‘wrong’ according to Prime Minister David Cameron while the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg thought it was a ‘shame’ that workers resorted to strike amidst negotiations. Labour Party leader Ed Miliband criticized the strike and accused the government for its ‘reckless behaviour’.

UK PUBLIC SERVICES HIT BY STRIKE

Report by Sumit