More strikes ahead, warns union leader

UNION leaders have predicted more strikes after yesterday’s one-day action saw schools across Oldham close as thousands attended a rally in Manchester.

An estimated 1,000 National Union of Teachers (NUT) members were on strike in Oldham over pension changes, with around 200 of them taking part in the city-centre demonstration — one of the biggest contingents.

Branch secretary Tony Harrison said: “It was a magnificent turn out and shows the anger and determination of the people not to be bullied into accepting cuts to their pensions.

“The amount of support from the public was surprisingly good given that so many people have been inconvenienced. It shows that people understand we need to protect our pensions.”

Up to 300 Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) members in Oldham also joined the action. It left only 21 of Oldham’s 105 schools fully open with 59 schools closed and 25 only partly open.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), of which there are 260 members in Oldham, also joined the strike over cuts, redundancies, pay reductions and pension changes.

Pickets were held outside Oldham Jobcentre Plus and Oldham Benefits Agency with Oldham County Court and Oldham Magistrates’ Court also affected — but all were still able to provide some services.

The strikers joined the march through Manchester city centre before a rally at Castlefield Arena.

They were joined by 200 firefighters from the Fire Brigades Union who were not striking but said they wanted to show their solidarity.

Peter Middleman, PCS North-West regional secretary, said more than 5,000 people were at the rally.

He claimed the Government had predicted a turnout of 20 per cent from PCS members, adding: “All the reports of the picket lines are that 90 to 95 per cent of the members were out.

“Our expectations were high, as our members always do respond with discipline and determination, but our expectations have been surpassed.”

The PCS claimed that, nationally, over 200,000 of its members had walked out, but the Government disputed the figure, maintaining that fewer than half of PCS members had taken action.

Mr Middleman predicted it was just the start of a long campaign and a strategy would be adopted where different sections of staff take action on different days, causing three days of disruption but with members losing only one day’s pay.

And if Unison, with four million members, joins the action it would have a huge impact.

Mr Middleman added: “There’s more to come. We are having meetings on pensions on July 6 to see if the Government responds positively to what’s an overwhelming endorsement of the PCS’s position. But our hopes aren’t very high.”

PCS members today started a month–long ban on overtime, which the union said will have a cumulative effect on government services.