Thousands who work in the public sector decided to take strike action on Thursday, 10th July, protesting against pay and pension issues.
From the early hours of the morning, people staged their protest on the picket lines outside of the Stoke on Trent city council offices equipped with Signs that had utilised banner printing.
A national strike was enforced by a series of unions that included Unison, NUT, PCS, GMB and Unite, meaning that civil servants, bin men and teachers were amongst those not attending their workplaces in protest over pay freezes and government cuts, which have, according to officials, left many members of the unions relying on food banks to keep themselves and their families going.
Firefighters were also called into strike action as the Fire Brigades Union also took part in the protests due to a dispute with the Government regarding pensions, which has been ongoing for a while.
As so many in the public sector were taking part in the protests, almost 150 schools in Staffordshire were closed, including 34 in Stoke on Trent. It also meant that bins were not collected and that some of the street maintenance scheduled wasn’t carried out. It also left some facilities such as the Job Centre closed.
Representatives of all the parties involved claim that employees have only seen an increase of pay equating to approximately one per cent since 2010, which lead to the rally outside the council’s civil offices.Get a Free Quote for Signs
