750,000 public-sector workers on strike in UK

Image via WikipediaBritish teachers and civil servants went on strike on Thursday over plans to reform public-sector pensions.

Up to 750,000 public-sector workers — including driving examiners and customs officials — were expected to join the walkout, part of a growing wave of opposition to the Conservative-led government's deficit-cutting regime of tax hikes, benefit curbs and spending cuts.

Mirroring protests across continental Europe against government-imposed austerity , the strike could be a taste of wider protests to come later this year.

Many schools across Britain were closed or classes disrupted and air passengers were expected to face delays because immigration officials were among the striking workers. Courts and government buildings were also affected.

The unions say the strike is just the start of a campaign of labor action on a scale unseen in Britain for three decades.

"On Thursday we will see hundreds of thousands of civil and public servants on strike," said Mark Serwotka, leader of the Public and Commercial Services Union. "We fully expect to be joined by millions more in the autumn." More...