Strike hits commuters, public services

0 Comments | AFP, March, 2006

LONDON (AFP) — More than one million local government employees in Britain went on strike in a pensions dispute that closed schools and caused travel chaos in what unions called the biggest walkout in 80 years.

Waving banners and chanting their grievances, council workers set up picket lines outside council offices, police stations, universities, schools, libraries and museums across the country as part of the one-day stoppage.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, the biggest union involved, said: "Our members have taken the decision to strike very seriously indeed.

"They are not selfish people, they are not using any excuse to call 'strike' and have a day off -- they are asking simply for what they have paid for and what they deserve."

The...