Teachers and civil servants join strike over changes to pensions
AROUND 5,000 teachers and civil servants were expected to take to the streets of Bristol today to protest planned changes to their pensions.
The planned 24-hour teachers strike means that most secondary schools in the Greater Bristol area will be shut or partially closed, as will a substantial number of local primary schools.
Schools in South Gloucestershire, B&NES and North Somerset are also significantly affected by the action.
It has meant thousands of families across the city have had to make emergency childcare arrangements.
David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, has said many parents would lose pay for taking the day off to look after children, and productivity would be hit.
Meanwhile Bristol City, North Somerset, B&NES and South Gloucestershire councils have confirmed that all services including refuse collections would not be impacted by the strike and would be running as normal.
There were concerns Bristol International Airport may also be affected by the strike as some UK Border Agency and Air Traffic Control staff are members of the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union who are due to join the public sector strike.
But airport spokesman James Gore told the Evening Post he was "not anticipating any disruption".
A statement on the airport's website reads: "The Public and Commercial Services union has called a one-day strike which will begin on the evening of Wednesday, June 29 and end at midnight on Thursday, June 30.
"The strike may affect border controls at some airports but we are working with the UK Border Agency to minimise disruption and we do not expect passengers flying from Bristol Airport to experience significant disruption to their journeys."
Members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers organised the strikes over changes to the pension scheme that will mean members paying more and receiving less.
Teachers in the NAS/UWT union are not taking part in the action but are not allowed to cover for absent colleagues.
The strikes have been criticised by Prime Minister David Cameron who told the Commons there was no case for taking the action.
He said he considered that government plans were "fair to taxpayers" and the public sector.
"What we are proposing is fair. It is fair to taxpayers but it is also fair to the public sector because we want to continue strong public sector pensions," Mr Cameron said.
Today, the unions planned a mass march and rally around the centre of the city to support strikers and drive home their concerns.
They were due to gather at College Green and then follow a route up Baldwin Street, down Union Street, along the Horsefair and up to Castle Park, where union leaders including Nina Franklin, national president of the NUT, and John McInally, national vice-president of the Public and Commercial Services union, will give speeches.
Thousands of members of the NUT, the ATL, the lecturers' union UCU and the PCS are expected to take part.
The unions were also planning to mount picket lines at Abbey Wood Community School and Bristol Brunel Academy. There will also be picket lines at Nailsea School and Worle Secondary School.







12 Comments
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by Charlespk
Thursday, June 30 2011, 10:00PM
“http://tinyurl.com/6x8e5lb”
by Gazzabristol
Thursday, June 30 2011, 9:39PM
“Mcupis
So in 1999 Gordon stole your pension and used it to created highly paid public sector jobs with massive pensions.
You didn't have the option of going on strike, you did however have the option of getting one of those highly paid jobs and a better pension than the one Gordon stole from you. Instead you just sat there whining and did nothing about it.
1999 however was the year when I applied for a public sector job and left the private company I had been working for since graduating. It was advertised in the BEP and you were free to apply for it also.
So I am pretty smart huh?
Well no not really, I can only afford a flat where as a woman on my Facebook who was in my year at school was whining the other day that her new 4 bedroom house was a bit too far from her family and friends than she would like.
Hasn't worked a day in her life since leaving school by the way, aside from the work she did in bed with a number of unsuitable men who are no longer around.
Age of the parasite is over? I think not.
Still I've earned more money than you and I have a better pension. Given my superior levels of initiative that I demonstrated in 1999 I don't really think you want me competing against you in the job market. I won't be leaving though, even with the cuts my pension will still be superior to yours. Bet you wish you had taken Tebbits advice and got on your bike back in 99. Too late for sour grapes.”
by Charlespk
Thursday, June 30 2011, 9:33PM
“I expect it belonged to a couple of Head Teachers Gazzabristol. . You obviously haven't had all your primary booster injections yet. . We would always recommend giving you the maximum protection.”
by Gazzabristol
Thursday, June 30 2011, 9:19PM
“How dare they protest peacefully.
Maybe next time they should start vandalising statues and kicking in shop windows.
By the way I was riding home from work yesterday and saw an ambulance getting held up by people mysteriously sat blocking the road in vehicles designed to carry five people but for some reason they were all only holding one person. I don't know how they sleep at night, someone could have died due to the delay.”
by Charlespk
Thursday, June 30 2011, 9:14PM
“Any sympathy you may have had folks has now completely evaporated. . Just like Gordon Brown's credence façade did.
http://tinyurl.com/yc6q5y2”
by FromMendip
Thursday, June 30 2011, 8:55PM
“Thanks to the strikers for bringing the city to a halt today.
Bus schedules were chaotic for the rest of the day as a result. Many of the marchers didn't seem concerned about their pensions supposedly becoming eroded. They seemed to treat the occasion as some sort of fun day out with young women at the front jiving and jitterbugging to the sound of drummers, laughing and having a great time.
I could not believe that a march of several thousand people had no police escort whatoever. The procession took for ever to wend its way around the Centre at a snail's pace with the marshals seemingly oblivious to or unconcerned about the chaos they were bringing to the city streets.
I walked along Rupert Street and that road and surrounding streets were at a standstill. At one point an ambulance was trying to get out of Bridewell Street with its siren ringing. I don't know how it managed.
On another point, my son and his wife were recently 'fined' by the school for taking their teenage children on a foreign holiday at a time when he had to take his own annual leave. Will the school (for it was one that was closed all day today) refund part of that fine, because they prevented by grandchildren getting to school today through the actions of their staff?”
by Charlespk
Thursday, June 30 2011, 12:49PM
“First published in the Western Daily Press on SEPTEMBER 11th. 2001.
Dear Editor,
It's 12 midday on WEDNESDAY 20th. MARCH 2011 AD.
The City is deathly quiet. The Air Quality Police haven't reopened the City since The Festival break in December and all vehicles are still banned. There are lights flashing from alarm systems but no-one seems to notice them. Most shops are just full of imitation goods for display purposes, since audible alarms were made illegal by Tony Blair in 2005. Most retailers are claiming "Set-Aside" on empty shops or just selling sandwiches to illegals so it doesn't really matter anyway.
It's been 9yrs. (I was a bit early. edited 22/11/2008) since the Great Wipe out, the stock market crash that revealed the enormous Index-Linked Pension Pyramid. Fortunately David Blunket our new Prime Minister defied Brussels and closed our borders so at least we were able to 'dig in' and survive, not like the continentals. The Tourists got fed up with Europe anyway. Cities became so overrun with addicts and illegals that everyone works from home now and city living has lost its appeal, most are now like neglected Theme Parks.
People have long since abandoned Early Retirement. When their Pensions were devalued they wanted proper jobs to do, fortunately there's plenty of security work for the ex-policemen but even most of them stay at home and try to relearn some of the old domestic skills. The young people have started looking after their own babies again as they have begun to realise that child rearing is the most important and satisfying task that mankind has ever had to master.
Global Warming hasn't happened yet in fact it's been another damned cold winter, neither did the Car Boom, recession saw to that and any way it was a pretty stupid proposition to suggest that 60,000,000 people would want 60,000,000 Cars. I mean half the population are old people and babies. Now that we've all got P.T.U.'s (Personal Transport Units) that are so quiet, clean and safe the young people are paying fortunes for 1980's Turbo-Charged Hot Cars.( http://tinyurl.com/5uxhrms )
The idiots who invested in Public Transport at the turn of the century really got their fingers burnt once there wasn't any money for subsidies. Our P.T.U.'s have now got a range of 350mls. between recharge (a bit optimistic) so who is going to bother with filthy trams and trains infested with druggies. 50% of railway lines have already been turned into Motorways as the Internet now accounts for 80% of all goods purchased. The distributors and carriers found the rail network was totally unworkable.
Bill Gates was made bankrupt yesterday. Apple took over the Internet and it is now secure and idiot proof, and they now have the backing of the Big Two Banks.
Goodness me! the shop bell! it's 2.30pm. a customer ? . . . The Festival must really be over! . . Ssh!. .We're not allowed to call it Christmas any more. . . . . Oh no it's not. . . . It Looks like John Turner selling 'The Big Issue' . . . . My word he's showing his age! . . . Last time I saw him he was going to be the new Director General of the BBC and was campaigning to get cannabis made illegal again . . It Can't Be. . . CAN IT ?
lol. "Hello JT. . How's your luck mate!"”
by mcupis
Thursday, June 30 2011, 11:35AM
“"Gordon Brown ruined my pension in 1999. He just declared that he was robbing me of the dividend and was donating it to some Labour Party voters by way of creating unnecessary but highly paid jobs in the public sector with stupidly over-inflated pensions nailed on. I didn't have the option of chucking my toys out of the pram and going on strike. Gordon created a huge client state of fully purchased voters with their snouts in the trough of taxpayers' money. These people then, of course, joined public sector unions and gave money back to the Labour Party. Thus democracy was totally undermined by fraud. To this day, the public sector unions finance the Labour Party. they decided that Ed Milliband should be leader and they determine Labour Party policy. Thankfully the British public saw through all of this when the inevitable happened - the amount of money going out overtook the amount of money coming in and the nation went bust. The coalition are now dealing with the consequences. One of the consequencesces is chopping the cosy Labour Party client state. It's game over for the Labour apparatchiks who thought they had jobs for life courtesy of the mug taxpayer. The jobs aren't needed, the pensions aren't affordable, the whole jolly pack of cards is coming crashing down around them. Of course, they aren't very happy about this. The strikers this morning are reminiscent of spoilt kids who have had their toys removed. Tough. Get out there in the real world, compete for proper jobs, with proper salaries and proper pensions like the rest of us. The age of the parasite is over.”
by A_Mushroom
Thursday, June 30 2011, 11:15AM
“"David Frost, director general of the British Chambers of Commerce, has said many parents would lose pay for taking the day off to look after children, and productivity would be hit."
What is the education system, a free child-minding service?”
by A_Mushroom
Thursday, June 30 2011, 10:57AM
“Playing the public sector off against the private sector is just one of the divisive tools that the Government are using to drive through their swingeing cuts. It's not about public versus private. Each sector has its own challenges and at the moment its about the public sector pensions.”