London -
Britain prepared for one million public sector workers to strike over salary freezes and spending cuts on Thursday, as the prime minister vowed to change the law to limit strikes.
Teachers, civil servants, firefighters and transport workers among others are expected to mount picket lines and march across London to protest the policies of the Conservative-led coalition government.
Prime Minister David Cameron said he would include a pledge to impose minimum turnout thresholds on strike ballots in his manifesto for the 2015 election.
“I don't think these strikes are right... I think people should turn up for work,” Cameron said, adding that the decision by one union to strike was based on a vote with 27 percent turnout.
“How can it possibly be right for our children's education to be disrupted by trade unions acting in that way? It is time to legislate and it will be in the Conservative manifesto.”
The government froze public sector salaries in 2010 and limited pay rises to one percent in 2012. Unions say this means that salaries cannot keep up with rising living costs. - Sapa-AFP