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Public Sector Strike

November 30, 2011 by · Comments Off on Public Sector Strike 

Public Sector Strike, Predicted to be the biggest strike for more than 30 years, schools, hospitals, airports, courts, refuse collections and libraries were among the services affected by walk-outs.

Workers are manning picket lines and taking part in demonstrations throughout the day.

Thousands of people took part in a march through central London this afternoon.

This morning 39 people were arrested in Hackney after trouble flared, and this afternoon police swooped in when protesters stormed an office building in Panton Street near Piccadilly.

Councils said nearly 2,000 schools were closed or partially closed.

London Councils, an organisation representing the capital’s 32 boroughs, said 1,573 schools – about two thirds – were be shut during the strike with another 387 partially closed.

Around the boroughs Brent, in north-west London, had 52 school closures, plus a further 12 that partially shut, while in nearby Hillingdon there were 36 shut and Harrow had 33 schools affected.

In Bromley, 48 schools shut to pupils and 29 partly closed, and in Redbridge, east London, 65 closed their doors completely, with 13 opening only in part.

In Newham, only two schools remained fully open this morning as teachers from several unions joined the industrial action.

Court proceedings were expected to be disrupted by the strike, union leaders said.

But they pledged not to disrupt the trial of two men accused of the racist killing of black teenager Stephen Lawrence, which is taking place at the Old Bailey in London.

Norina O’Hare, who represents the justice and prosecutions sector of the Public and Commercial Services Union, said picket lines were in place at courts across the country – including at the Old Bailey and the Royal Courts of Justice, which is also in central London and houses the High Court and Courts of Appeal.

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