U.K. Public-Sector Strike Threatens Airports, Closes Schools - San Francisco Chronicle

(Updates with airports, schools starting in second paragraph.)

Nov. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Members of 30 U.K. public-sector unions walked out in a dispute over pensions with Prime Minister David Cameron's government that's closed schools and threatens to disrupt airports and hospitals.

As many as 2 million government staff, including immigration officials, nurses and civil servants, are expected to take part in today's one-day strike, the Trades Union Congress said in a statement. London's Heathrow airport, Europe's busiest hub, Gatwick, the capital's second airport, and City airport said there were no early delays, though they warned of possible congestion later. Three-quarters of schools will be partially or totally shut, the Cabinet Office said in a statement.

Unions are striking to protest plans to make government employees retire later and contribute more to their pensions. Ministers say the move, part of Cameron's program of spending cuts to narrow the budget deficit, is fair because workers who contribute to public-sector pensions get benefits no longer available in the private sector.

"They're asking millions of public servants to pay higher contributions that won't go into their pensions, but will go to paying off the deficit," TUC General Secretary Brendan Barber will tell strikers at a rally today in Birmingham, central England, according to extracts from his speech released by his office. "They've scrapped the bankers' bonus tax and replaced it with a teachers', nurses' and lollipop ladies' tax."

'At Some Point'

Immigration was operating normally at Heathrow early this morning, though the situation might change later in the day, a spokeswoman said by telephone. There was no early disruption at Gatwick, the airport said in an e-mailed statement, though it said it expects "delays to occur at some point today as the rate of arriving flights increases."

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced an improved offer to the unions on Nov. 2, after they had started holding ballots for strike action. The concessions included protecting existing pension rights for people 10 years from retirement, higher limits for government contributions and improved benefit-accrual rates.

'Round the Table'

"The strike is not going to achieve anything, it's not going to change anything, it's only going to make our economy weaker and possibly cost jobs," Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne said in an interview with BBC television today, after telling lawmakers yesterday that growth next year will be slower than previously forecast and the government will need to increase borrowing. "I would urge people, let's settle this, let's get back round the table and let's settle this for the next generation."

Police officers have been drafted in to assist with passport checks at airports. Heathrow, which last week warned passengers they could face delays of as long as 12 hours waiting to pass through immigration, said queues were "at normal levels" at 8 a.m. Airport management asked airlines to cut passenger numbers and there is a "possibility" of delays later in the day, operator BAA Airports Ltd. said in a statement on its website.

"As a result of the whole airport community working together over the past few days we have more immigration officers on duty and fewer passengers arriving than would otherwise be the case," BAA said. "That puts us in a better place to avoid the serious delays and widespread disruption at Heathrow that were projected last week."

Full Schedule

British Airways, the largest operator at Heathrow, which offered passengers the option to rebook their flights, said it is planning to operate its full schedule.

Other airlines scrapped flights because of the walkout. Etihad Airways said it canceled three planes to Heathrow from Abu Dhabi, while Singapore Airlines Ltd. dropped two flights to London, saying there was a "significant risk" passengers would be unable to disembark from planes.

Eurostar Group Ltd., which runs trains through the Channel Tunnel, said passengers will experience delays at check-in in Paris and Brussels "in particular in the afternoon." Travelers are advised to arrive one hour before departure rather than the usual 30 minutes, it said on its website.

Labor unions were angered by Osborne's announcements yesterday of a 1 percent cap on public-sector pay increases once the current two-year freeze is over, an increase in the pension age to 67 and an easing of health-and-safety legislation. The chancellor also said he will make it easier for private companies to take over public-sector services.

"We're taking action in a week where we see banks making big profits again, a week when we see bank bonuses are in at 4.5 billion pounds, in a week when we're told that public-sector workers have to pay to deal with this deficit," Dave Prentis, general secretary of the Unison public-sector union, told BBC Radio 4's 'Today' Show. "We're saying enough is enough."

The Office of Budget Responsibility increased its estimate yesterday of the number of public-sector workers who will lose their jobs by 2017 to 710,000, or 13 percent of employees in local and central government. The office previously predicted that 400,000 posts would be cut by 2016.

--With assistance from Steve Rothwell in London. Editors: Eddie Buckle, Alan Crawford

To contact the reporters on this story: Thomas Penny in London at tpenny@bloomberg.net; Katie Linsell in London at klinsell@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: James Hertling at jhertling@bloomberg.net