1.1m-strong union vote to strike over pension reforms

BRITAIN’S biggest public sector union said its members had voted in favour of a national strike later this month, piling pressure on ministers in an ongoing dispute over pension reforms.

Announcing the result of a strike ballot involving a record 1.1 million workers, Unison said its members had given “overwhelming” support for a 24-hour strike on November 30.

It said 245,000 had voted in favour and 70,000 voted against a walkout.

The result, on a turnout of 29%, came a day after a coalition of public sector unions said they were pressing ahead with plans for a strike despite a more generous offer on pensions from the government that ministers described as the “chance of a lifetime.”

Unison general secretary Dave Prentis said: “The decisive ‘yes’ vote in the ballot reflects the deep concern that our members have over government ministers’ proposals for their pensions.”

He said the union supported the stoppage “but will be negotiating right up to then and beyond to get a fair deal for our members.”

But the government immediately attacked the result, saying it did not represent the will of the majority of workers.

“Today’s Unison ballot received a very low turnout — with less than a third of their members even voting — which shows there is extremely limited support for the kind of strike action their union leaders want,” said cabinet office minister Francis Maude, who is leading the negotiations on pensions with the Treasury.

A spokeswoman for prime minister David Cameron called the ballot result “disappointing, unnecessary and potentially damaging” to public services.

“We have a good deal on the table, one that is fair and affordable and we would urge unions to reconsider and to look at the deal that’s on the table.”

Unions are balloting members on industrial action over changes to their pensions and are due to report results in the coming weeks, raising the prospect of the biggest British strike in decades.

Some of Britain’s biggest unions believe the coordinated action could come close to numbers seen during the 1926 general strike in which 3 million people took part.