Million-plus town hall workers to go on strike

The walk-out will be the biggest bout of industrial unrest since the 1926 General Strike and will be the biggest stoppage ever by women.

Members of several unions representing workers ranging from school dinner ladies and refuse collectors to architects and school assistants, said their members had voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action in protest at planned changes to their pension scheme.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison which is the biggest union involved, said his members had voted by four to one to support industrial action.

"By refusing to pay out on the Local Government Pension Scheme, especially when they have given protection to every other government pension scheme, the Government has destroyed the retirement plans of tens of thousands of public sector workers.

"These essential workers have had enough of being told they are to blame for rising council tax increases.

"Local government pensions cost just 2.7p of the council tax pound, so don't be fooled into believing that these people are to blame.

"It is simply immoral that the employer's association doesn't come clean and admit that they have already spent the pension funds paid in good faith by scheme members. This is a pensions con."

Mr Prentis said that civil servants, teachers, police, firefighters and health workers had all been given protection for existing members over pensions so there was "no reason" for not giving the same treatment to council workers.

Eight trade unions released their ballot results today, showing an average of four to one in favour of industrial action.

The ballot results were announced following the failure of last-ditch talks between unions and employers and the Government to break the deadlock in the dispute, which has been rumbling for years.

The unions threatened a strike before the last General Election but the Government promised fresh talks which averted the action.