Strike 'Damaging' To Families, Says Minister

Thousands of workers are on strike in what ministers have said is "damaging" industrial action which has a significant impact on families.

Tensions have been running high among the estimated one million teachers, firefighters, civil servants and other public sector workers after the Government dismissed the strike as failing and said people were turning up to work as usual.

One in eight schools is estimated to have closed while callers to job centres face a limited service due to "severe difficulties".

Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude said the strike was seriously "damaging" and presented difficulty for families, many of whom have been forced to make alternative arrangements for their children.

The row over David Cameron's pledge to change the law to make it illegal to strike unless a greater majority of union members voted for action has intensified, with those on strike accusing him of "utter hypocrisy".

Karen Russell, a teacher from Middlesex, told Sky News: "I've just had enough of the Government not listening to the concerns of teachers."

She said taking a day out of school was not disruptive to children - they had been given a day off for the Royal Wedding - and that parents she had spoken to supported the strike.

But mother-of-three Katrina Poole, from Bristol, who has had to make special arrangements for her children, said: "I know teachers work very, very hard, but they've got 13 clear weeks off school and maybe they could deal with this outside educational time."

In Brighton, council worker Corinna Edwards-Colledge said: "I'm really angry when I look around and see my friends - ordinary working people - being scapegoated, and taking the brunt of the cuts.

"Then I hear that the richest people have seen their wealth increase by 14% in the last year alone, when I have friends who are having to miss meals."

The Cabinet Office issued a statement at 7am saying the action would "achieve nothing" and only a fifth (90,000) of the civil service workforce was out on strike.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union described those figures as "laughable".

The TUC said public sector workers are £2,200 worse off under the Government.

In March the Government announced a 1% pay rise for public sector workers. However, Office for National Statistics figures show that public sector workers earn, on average, 14.5% more than those in the private sector.

MPs will see their salaries rise by 11% by May 2015.

The Prime Minister on Wednesday pledged to include changes to employment law in the Conservative manifesto to introduce a threshold in ballots, which some have suggested should mean 50% of union members must vote before a strike can take place.

The NUT strike ballot, which was held in 2010, saw just 27% of members taking part, while Unison said only 23% of its members voted.

However, unions pointed out that not "a single member of the present Cabinet would have been elected using the same criteria".