It comes as no surprise that the union has not made progress negotiating with the government over changes. Think about how serious any of the US unions were when they tried negotiating with the right wing governors. The Guardian:
Two hours of talks left the unions and government still fundamentally divided with major unresolved gaps in opinions, according to Brendan Barber, the general secretary of the Trades Union Congress.
Unions said they had made no progress on the most contentious proposals – to increase public sector workers' contributions, change the system of uprating schemes, and raise the pension age for government employees.
PCS, the civil service union, called the talks a farce and, along with three other unions collectively representing 750,000 teachers, lecturers and civil servants, confirmed Thursday's walkout will go ahead. But the biggest public sector union, Unison, indicated the government had given enough ground to delay their strike ballot until later in the summer, in the hope of further concessions.
