National council strike: A region-by-region guide » Education » 24dash.com

A 48-hour strike by hundreds of thousands of council workers will hit schools, libraries and refuse collection, close civic offices and sports centres and disrupt other local authority services today and tomorrow.

Here is a region-by-region snapshot  of how the strike is likely to affect services.

A number of schools in Poole, Dorset will be fully or partially closed on one or both days of the industrial action, while refuse collections and access to planning offices will be affected.

In neighbouring Bournemouth, 14 schools will close on both days, and libraries are expected to be shut.

Staff at Poole Council and Hampshire County Council reached agreement with Unison for key staff to turn up for work as normal in critical services such as social care and child protection.

Around 14 schools will be closed or partially closed in Southampton.

The strike will disrupt a wide range of council services across Devon and Cornwall. An Exeter city council spokesman said there could be disruption in refuse collection - and householders were asked to inform the authority if no one turned up to empty their bins. Public toilets may be closed, and street sweeping was also likely to be disrupted.

In Torquay, council administrative staff and refuse collectors were among those set to take action. The town's library will close, and the Dartmouth ferry will be out of action.

A Cornwall County Council spokeswoman said they will be doing all they can to minimise the impact of the planned industrial action.

She said highways staff will be available to deal with emergencies affecting the road network although the Torpoint ferry will not be running during the strike.

So far five schools in the county have confirmed that they will close as will six libraries.

Cornwall County Fire Brigade has put contingency plans in place to ensure that the industrial action does not impact on front line operational services.

A Plymouth City Council spokeswoman said they have negotiated with Unison so staff involved in 'life and limb' services for the most vulnerable in society will come to work as normal. Three schools in the city will close.

In the North East there is a mixed picture of disruption caused by the strike. Although many schools, libraries and council buildings would be closed, some would be open as normal.

In Newcastle refuse collection services are expected to be "severely disrupted", as will street sweeping.

Many council buildings will also be shut, including libraries and some leisure centres.

Two thirds of schools - a total of 67 - will be closed because of the strike in the city. However, council car parks will be open as normal.

In Northumberland, the county council said some schools and libraries would be closed, although home care and social services would be operating unaffected.

A spokeswoman said: "Almost 30 schools are expected to be affected, with some being open to staff but not to pupils.

"It is up to head teachers to decide on whether a school can safely stay open or not, with the safety and welfare of students being paramount in making the decision.

"Schools have been advised to inform parents if their school is to be affected.

"The trade unions have agreed that staff - needed to deliver services for certain vulnerable client groups - who belong to the union are not required to take part in the strike."

County Hall in Morpeth will remain open throughout the two days.

Redcar and Cleveland Council said refuse collections would be disrupted, while in County Durham, over 50 schools, libraries and some leisure centres will be closed.

In Wolverhampton, more than 40 schools will be closed or partially closed, and household refuse, green garden waste and kerbside recycling will not be collected.

All libraries in Stoke-On-Trent will be closed, as well as eight schools.

Coventry City Council said 12 schools will close and refuse collections disrupted, 14 schools will close or partially close in Staffordshire, nine in Worcestershire and a similar number between Herefordshire and Shropshire, where day care centres and libraries will also be hit.

Unison expects most schools in Wales to be closed during the two-day strike and a host of council services affected.

An official said: "Everywhere where our members work in local authorities such as social services, day care centres, libraries, and planning departments will be affected.

Gloucestershire county council said 12 of its 41 libraries would be closed, while Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery will shut and 38 schools in the city will be hit by full or partial closures.

Rubbish collections and recycling services in Bath will not be operating.

In Leeds around 30 schools will be closed along with the main library and an assortment of community centres and recycling sites, while in Doncaster 70% of schools (93) will be fully closed.

In Hull, 38 schools will fully or partially close and two libraries will be shut.

A series of rallies will be held by council workers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, including Norwich, Cambridge, Leicester, London, Newcastle, Belfast, Portsmouth, Brighton, Bristol, Cardiff, Swansea, Sheffield and York.

In the North West of England, where around 98,000 council workers are members of Unite and Unison, the strike affected schools, leisure centres, park and beach wardens as well as many other services.

Most councils said that, with union support, essential services to the most vulnerable adults and children would be maintained throughout the strike period.

Unison described turn-out in the region as "very, very good".

North West regional secretary Frank Hont said: "We have had no problem convincing our members that this is the right and necessary course of action.

"The offer of 2.45% is effectively a pay cut and they are angry about it.

"Members on the picket lines today have also been buoyed by support from the public who recognise that in the current economic climate, with rising fuel and food prices, all workers need a fair pay deal."

In the West Midlands, workers picketed council buildings across Birmingham, with rallies taking place later in Coventry and Wolverhampton.

Kate McLeod, a Unison regional officer, was among those picketing the city council's House of Sport in Broad Street, Birmingham.

"We don't take strike action lightly," she said.

"People lose money, people put time aside, people quite often come against conflict when they are out here on the streets, but it's for a good reason.

"This is about a pay rise that should be better because the employer can afford it."

Birmingham City Council said today that 18 schools would be closed to pupils and refuse collections might be disrupted during the strike.

In Leeds, several hundred strikers gathered outside the city's art gallery.

They were entertained by a band, Monkey Wrench, while people dressed as Cinderella characters wandered among the crowd.

The characters symbolised the strikers' view that they are the Cinderella figures of public sector.

Christina McAnea, Unison national secretary, said at the rally: "We are very pleased here in Leeds where 90% of our members have taken part in strike action.

"We don't set out to close schools and cause disruption. But we have no option if we want to get local government employers to come back to the negotiating table and make us a realistic offer.

"The offer of 2.45% is, in fact, a pay cut and some of our members are on as little as £6 an hour."

In Leeds, around 30 schools were closed today along with the main library and an assortment of community centres, one-stop centres and recycling sites.

In Sheffield, 27 out the city's 180 schools were partially shut, with eight completely closed.

Sheffield City Council's assistant chief executive Ken Green said: "We are talking to representatives of the unions about minimising any disruption to our customers.

"The council will maintain business as usual during the strike, avoiding as much disruption as we can."

In Manchester, 78 schools were closed across the city and a further 11 partially shut. Nurseries and youth centres were also hit.

The town hall, museums and libraries were affected, with bins left unemptied.

Around 20 union members picketed Manchester Town Hall in a low-key demonstration.

In Salford, the council warned residents and businesses of "major disruption" because of the strike.

Schools were closed and burials and cremations were not taking place during the two-day stoppage.

Both councils said staff would maintain emergency cover to help elderly or vulnerable residents.

Wigan, Stockport and Tameside were also all hit by the strike.

In Bristol, dozens of strikers from across the south west of England marched through the city centre.

Meeting in Castle Park, the crowds waved banners and cheered as they made their way to College Green.

In and around Bristol, 42 schools were closed today, while Bristol's City Museum and Art Gallery was also shut.

Many services were suspended in Gloucestershire as well, where 12 libraries remained shut.

In Cheltenham, there were no household refuse or recycling collections either today or tomorrow.

The Municipal Offices, the recycling centre and reception at the Swindon Road depot, the Art Gallery and Museum and all public toilets were closed.

Further south in Somerset, rubbish collections and recycling services in Bath were not operating.

In Cardiff, around 100 people attended a rally in the city's Bay area.

Unison's secretary for the region, Paul O'Shea, told the crowd there had been a huge turnout across Wales and the strike had closed more schools than a recent teachers' strike.

Mr O'Shea said: "I've been talking to staff and activists from around Wales and, from the reports I'm getting, it looks like this is the biggest public sector pay strike there's ever been. It's unbelievable.

"Members in Wales and other parts of the country have demonstrated how loyal they are and fed up of being treated this badly.

"Depots across Wales are shut... and we've shut more schools than the NUT strike did six or seven weeks ago.

"The other surprising thing is, not just today but in the last few days, we've had hugely supportive coverage from the media."

Mr O'Shea said: "The traditional loyalty of the people in Wales has shone through again. Wales has probably done better than anywhere else in the country."

Labour AM Carwyn Jones and Plaid Cymru AM Dai Llloyd also spoke at the rally.

Around 300 public sector workers held a raucous demonstration outside Newcastle Civic Centre.

The crowd cheered, jeered and blew whistles as they were addressed by representatives of various unions.

There was even an element of audience participation during a speech by Unite regional secretary Davey Hall as he urged strikers to shout "up from" as he listed recent percentage rises in the costs of goods and services.

Special needs teaching assistants Jo McGinley and Carole Aspinall, both 51, described the offered pay rise as "disparaging" and said they felt compelled to demonstrate.

"We haven't taken this action lightly, working with special needs children who are now unsupported," Mrs McGinley said.

Gill Hale, from Unison, said support for the action across the North East was high, with around 50,000 members joining the strike.

She told the crowd they would be given refreshments at the local Labour Club.

Hundreds of protesters brought traffic to a standstill as they marched through the streets of Brighton today.

Waving placards and shouting slogans, up to 500 staff members from Brighton and Hove City Council took part in the march from council offices in Hove into Brighton.

Alex Knutsen, South East branch secretary of Unison, said the group would be congregating outside Brighton Town Hall in the Lanes, where speeches would be made.

Library services, housing services, planning, trading standards and social services were all affected by the strike, with 13 schools closed or partially shut today and tomorrow.

Mr Knutsen said: "Tomorrow we will lobby councillors when they have their full council meeting.

"We will be asking them to put pressure on to re-negotiate our pay claim. I believe Labour and the Green groups have the topic on their agenda to discuss."

Mark Sole, 37, who works for the council's community safety team, said he and his colleagues felt they had no choice but to go on strike.

He said: "Our pay needs to come in line with inflation. I just hope that our employers will listen to us. Hopefully it will make them get back into negotiations about pay conditions."

Elsewhere in the region, council workers striking at East Sussex County Council led to the closure of three schools and the partial closure of one.

In West Sussex two schools were shut, with a further five partially closed.

In Kent some library services were affected, but the strike was not causing any disruption to schools.

About 300 council workers descended on Leicester Town Hall Square this afternoon to protest at the pay offer.

Family centre worker and Unison member Gaynor Garner, who earns less than £10,000 a year, said: "I think it's an atrocious pay offer. Inflation has gone up again. We keep getting less and less every year.

"I think the feeling is that local government workers are the Cinderella service. We provide all the services but we are undervalued."

Children's home worker Janet McKenna, also a member of Unison, said: "With costs rising on food and fuel I am terrified, as I'm sure other people are, about having to have the heating on this winter.

"We can't carry on with below-inflation offers. They need to be investing in people. Without us they have got nothing. I think people do feel undervalued."

Abdul Osman, deputy leader of Labour-controlled Leicester City Council, said the ruling group's councillors had been told to respect the strike action and not cross the picket line.

But sympathy for striking local government staff was in limited supply among council tax payers interviewed in the street today.

About 10 schools in the city were closed, the Central Lending Library was shut and a number of community and neighbourhood centres were affected by the industrial action.

Sonia Riyait, a lone parent adviser from Leicester, said: "I don't know if they are right but I think there's a lot of disruption to important services.

"I understand why they are on strike but I don't know in this day and age whether striking is the right way to go about it. My sister has had to take time off work because the kids are off school."

A charity administrator from Leicester, who did not want to be named, said: "I do not particularly sympathise. Where's the money coming from?

"The reason for keeping wages stable is to keep council tax down and with other things going up, council tax is going up enough."

At Plymouth City Council 100 workers took to the streets in protest against their pay offer.

Teaching assistants, administrative staff, street cleaners and other workers waved banners and blew whistles as they marched through the city centre.

The demonstration, which lasted around 20 minutes, briefly stopped traffic and ended in a rally in front of the Civic Centre.

The ferry service linking Plymouth to Torpoint has also been closed and 28 schools in Cornwall and 27 in Devon have been affected by the industrial action.