Nine out of 10 state schools are closed, trash will not be collected, hospitals are operating with only skeleton staff and airports are looking at long delays, as a result of a 24-hour nationwide strike by Britain's public sector workers over controversial pension reforms.

The coordinated industrial action by a coalition of 30 trade unions, representing some 2 million workers, comes amid a gloomy backdrop of faltering growth in Britain, rising unemployment, big public sector layoffs and wage freezes, as the government pursues an austerity drive designed to slash a record budget deficit.

Passengers arriving or leaving Heathrow airport, one of the world's busiest hubs, were expected to face long delays at passport control points, but delays did not materialize, since extra staff operated the immigration desks.

Workers face pension cuts; higher retirement age

The strike is the biggest test of Prime Minister David Cameron's coalition government, which has unleashed trade union fury by proposing to bring the retirement age for public sector employees in line with the state pension.

Under the proposal, public sector workers will be asked to work until age 66 and increase their retirement payments. The government also plans to peg pension payouts to Britain's Retail Price Index rate of inflation rather than the higher Consumer Price Index. Retirees will also get a smaller payout, based on their average salary, instead of the final salary, as it is now.

The government urged the unions to call off the strike, arguing that it will cost the economy 500 million pounds ($775 million).

But unions said that some 2 million people had taken part.

Unions have warned of more strikes next year, if the government fails to make a new significant offer by the end of 2011. But the government says no more money is available and has threatened to withdraw a revised offer it made earlier this month, if workers strike.

The unions' strength is concentrated in the public sector, but the number of employees involved in Wednesday's walkout represents less than 10 percent of the British workforce.

Author: Gregg Benzow (Reuters, AFP)
Editor: Michael Lawton