More than a million council workers went on strike yesterday to defend their right to retire at 60. STEPHEN LEWIS toured the picket lines in York to find out what was at the root of the dispute.

UNION leaders are calling it the biggest single day of action since the 1926 General Strike. Across the country, more than a million council workers - teaching assistants, home helps, dinnerladies, refuse collectors, street cleaners and administrative staff - downed tools in protest at government plans to scrap the so-called "rule of 85".

The rule allows council staff to retire at 60 if their age and length of service add up to 85.

Dave Prentis, general secretary of the public sector union Unison, which led the day of action, described as "immoral" the Government's attempt to change the pension rules.

Council workers are particularly furious at being treated as the "poor relations" among public sector workers. The Government last year reached a deal with millions of civil servants, teachers and health workers allowing them to continue to retire at 60 - but excluded council staff.

"All we are asking for is the same kind of protection for council workers," said Mr Prentis.

Throughout the day yesterday, we visited the picket lines in York to gauge the mood....

9.30am, York Central Library, Library Square

A thin line of three rather bookish-looking protesters man a picket line in front of the library's main entrance. The library isn't closed, but the picketers politely hand leaflets to anyone who goes in.

Library assistant Lesley Jefferis doesn't look the militant type, but she is aggrieved about the behaviour of some non-striking staff. "We understand they sneaked in through the back door rather than cross our line," she says.

Lesley says the right of council staff to retire at 60 under the "rule of 85" if they have enough length of service has to be protected - because it's one of the few benefits council employees enjoy. "People who work in the public sector don't often get as well paid as people in the private sector," she says. Fellow library worker Andrea Dudding says it is about fairness and justice. "People have paid into their pensions in good faith," she says.

9.50am, City of York Council finance centre, Library Square

Accounts clerk Pete Weck, a Unison convenor in York, is furious with the Labour government. "This action is not against City of York Council," he says. "This is against John Prescott, Two Jags. He's got a brilliant pension."

Pete, who says he earns about £12,000 a year, is 56, and so won't be affected by the government's proposals (only council workers under 53 would have their right to retire at 60 removed). But he's willing to give up a day's wages to protect the right of fellow workers who will be losing out.

He says the Government is "doing a Thatcher" by trying to divide council workers from other public sector employees. "They think if they can beat local government workers, they will take on firemen and health workers next," he says.

Pete used to be a card-carrying member of the Labour Party, he says. "But I will never vote Labour again."

10.15am, St Leonard's Place

"Not an extra day on our working lives, not a penny off our pensions. We're not going to sell out the next generation!" says benefits officer Caitlin Clarricoates, who is picketing outside the entrance to the council's benefits office.

Striking council staff aren't "skulduggerous revolutionaries", Caitlin insists - just ordinary workers trying to do a good job who are standing up for their rights. The Government's attempt to change the retirement rules for council workers under 53 is an attack on "our sons and daughters", she says.

Caitlin is pleased by the level of support from passers-by. "They have been very supportive. We've had older people stopping, younger people, people parping their horns as they drive past."

People queuing at the bus stop opposite the Theatre Royal do seem mainly supportive.

Private care home worker John Flintoff admits that in his own profession, the retirement age is 65. "But I support them. I think they are right. By 60 you have worked long enough," he says.

A retired local authority worker who is walking past York Theatre Royal says he has sympathy for the strikers, even though he is not sure whether strike action is the right way forward.

There is a real problem with pensions, he says. "And clearly something has to be done about it." But by making one rule for civil servants and another for council staff, the Government has got it wrong, he says.

10.30am, Foss Islands depot

A small knot of striking council workers is standing around a brazier at the entrance to the depot. They have been here since before 6am, says street cleaner Trevor Scott cheerfully.

Trevor is angry at the way council workers are being treated less fairly than other public sector workers such as teachers, nurses and civil servants. "They have the right to retire at 60. Why shouldn't we?" he says.

The depot is still open but a number of people have turned away on hearing about the strike. Trevor is pleased that only two out of 17 refuse lorries went out.

Refuse worker Billy Elliott is in bullish mood, wanting to know what the Government will do with the pension contributions he has paid in.

"I've been paying into my pension scheme for 65 years now," he says. "What are they going to do? Give me my money back?"

But doesn't he think the Government has a point? When private sector workers have to work to 65 to get a full pension, and with everybody living longer nowadays, shouldn't council workers be prepared to work a bit longer?

"Would you like to do the bins at 65?" he asks.

12.30pm, St Helen's Square

Ben Drake, Unison branch secretary for York, is in full cry, addressing a rally of what he puts at 300 people. A handful of yellow-jacketed police officers look on, one of them filming proceedings on a video camera.

Eleven unions have joined together for today's action, Mr Drake says. "We all stand together to defend our pensions. We all signed a contract of employment in the expectation that we would be able to pay into the pension scheme and draw benefits on the terms we signed up to. Now they are trying to change the goalposts. That's not fair!

"We have paid in for years. We are entitled to the benefits that we paid for."

A deal has rightly been struck to protect the right of civil servants and other public sector workers to retire at 60, Mr Drake says. "But why should council workers be the poor relations? We provide vital public services. We should be entitled to the same protection that they have."

Les Marsh, of the T&G union's retired members branch, accuses the Government of adopting Mrs Thatcher-style "dirty tricks" in an attempt to divide public sector workers.

"It's divide and conquer," he says. "We mustn't let them get away with it."

Claire Rogers, a 25-year-old local taxation assistant, is among those in the audience who applauds.

"I'm here to try to protect the pension," she says afterwards. "The contract that I signed was that I would be able to retire at 60. Now, goodness knows when I'll be able to retire. Today, we're fighting retirement at 65. In years to come, will we be here again, trying to stop them forcing us to retire at 70 or 75?"

Theresa Aylett, a city council 'mobile warden' who provides emergency first aid to residents in council care homes, says pensions are worth fighting for. "I work with the elderly, and I see that every day," she says.

What the dispute is about

UNIONS claim the Government and local authority employers want to change council workers' pension schemes for the worse.

At the moment, council workers theoretically retire at 65. But under the so-called "rule of 85" many can retire on a full pension at 60, provided their age and length of service add up to 85. A street sweeper with 30 years service by the time he reached 60 would thus be eligible for retirement because his age (60) plus number of years' service (30) adds up to more than 85.

The Local Government Association (LGA), the body representing local authority employers, wants to change that rule, so that no council staff now under 53 would be able to benefit from the "rule of 85".

That would see all council workers now aged under 53 having to work to 65 if they want their full pension.

Because of pension fund shortfalls and the fact that retired workers are now living longer, the LGA claims doing nothing will add at least two per cent a year to every council tax-payer's bill.

Local government union Unison, which is leading the fight, claims the LGA is trying to cover up its own financial mismanagement.

With the government already having decided that civil servants, teachers and health workers can retire on a full pension at 60, the change would discriminate against council staff, the union claims.

Who was affected

Eleven unions, representing teaching assistants, home helps, police community support officers, dinnerladies, environmental health officers, refuse collectors and some council administrative staff, took part in yesterday's action.

The unions are warning of further industrial action unless the dispute is resolved.

Updated: 08:46 Wednesday, March 29, 2006