'Biggest strike in a generation' for Britain's public sector workers

DW-World:

More than two thirds of British schools were shut on Wednesday as an estimated two million public sector workers staged a one-day walkout in a row over pension reforms.

Unions claimed the strike, which saw thousands of hospital operations cancelled and caused delays at British airports, was the biggest industrial action in the UK for more than thirty years.

Employees responsible for delivering many of Britain's public services are angry over plans to raise their retirement age to 67 and force workers to increase their monthly pension contributions.

The government insists that workers must face up to a stark new reality. The British economy is barely growing and is feeling the effects of the eurozone crisis, not to mention the UK's own debt problems.

Ministers claim that workers in the public sector, which includes Britain's largest employer, the National Health Service (NHS), have seen their standard of living rise dramatically over the last ten years, while those on the private sector payroll have seen average incomes fall.

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