The GMB has responded to Eric Pickles’ claim that local government pension talks were “close to a deal”, and has denied that a deal is on the table for local government workers. No negotiations are taking place, it has confirmed.

Brian Strutton, the GMB’s national secretary and leading for GMB in the national negotiations on pensions, said: “Mr Pickles hasn’t even met the local government unions. Instead he has passed the negotiating baton to council leaders but they have told GMB and the other unions they will not be in a position to negotiate until at least the middle of next month.

“I can confirm there is no pension deal on the table for local government workers and categorically confirm that no negotiations are taking place. That’s why we are on strike and that’s why we are calling for negotiations to take place urgently and seriously.”

In Manchester, ATL general secretary Mary Bousted has told the still-growing rally: “Let’s tell it straight to the government.  It is no good for them to ignore us for 11 months and then, on the second of November, for them to give us their final proposals for public sector pensions, and then expect us to negotiate a deal by the end of the year.  It just isn’t possible and we will not be hounded or threatened by a government which repeatedly demonstrates its complete incompetence.

“While we are prepared to be reasonable, we will not be walked over.  We know that pensions are a long-term investment.  We know that pension scheme members have to have some confidence in the returns on that investment if they are not to opt out, or never join a pension scheme.  We know that young professionals, burdened by degree debt, simply will not be able to afford to join a pension scheme.  We know that low-paid workers will opt out in droves if their pension contributions rise and become unaffordable.  We know that, if members opt out of the schemes, public sector pension schemes will be in crisis.

We are not here to say that there must be no changes.  We are here to say to the government, stop treating us with contempt.  If you need to change public sector pensions because people are living longer, show us your sums.  Make your case.  And if you can do this, then negotiate properly.  Stop engaging in megaphone diplomacy.  Stop the threats and the misrepresentation.  Start behaving responsibly.  Start acting like a government not like a shower.  And let’s get a resolution to this dispute.”

And on that note, I’m off to join the fag-end of the London demo, but before I do here’s an essential primer on the myths and arguments about pensions from Alex Hern on Left Foot Forward.

And look out for more reports and reaction to today’s strike on Union News tomorrow, including video footage of pickets and protests in Sheffield. Send your reports to news@union-news.co.uk – thanks for reading.

Here’s the TUC on the government’s public utterances this morning:

“To describe the biggest strike in a generation as a damp squib is from the department of misleading propaganda. The PM should instead reflect on why he has driven up to 2million public sector workers to take action, most for the first time in their lives.”

While at the rally in Belfast, Peter Bunting, general secretay of Northern Ireland Congress of Trade Unions tells protesters that the real extremists are those who avoid paying taxes.

And more absence-of-justice reports: PCS reports say nine out of 10 magistrates’ courts are closed today.

Meanwhile, placard of the day so far, in London: “I’m really not happy about this.”

Only 30 schools out of 2,700 are reported to be open in Scotland, while rallies and marches are now under way in Cardiff, Swansea, Southampton, Shrewsbury, Lincoln, Sheffield, Medway, central London and Brixton.

Another message of international support, this time from Hungary: “On behalf of the LIGA, Democratic League of Independent Trade Unions from Hungary, I wish to inform you about our support for your action day. We agree that the burden of the crises should not be carried by the workers and the public sector employees, as it unfortunately is the situation in many countries. We express our solidarity with TUC and all the workers they represent.”

And here’s some more party politics news: Scotland’s First Minister, Alex Salmond, crossed the picket line outside the Scottish Parliament, though his SNP colleague John Finnie MSP stayed in Inverness in support of the strike. Labour and Scottish Green party members have both boycotted today’s debate in the parliament because they refuse to cross picket lines.

Of course, those Westminster MPs you may have seen on TV earlier will also have walked across picket lines.

More from the south-west: UNISON assistant general secretary Roger McKenzie told members in Swindon that the strike is “massive” and “strong everywhere”.

He encouraged striking workers at a packed rally to “stand strong, stand tall and stand firm” so that “together we will win this battle for public services”.

In Devon, Exeter City Football Club’s ground is filling up with marching strikers in the South-West. The NUT’s Twitter feed reports that teachers are, with customary order, sitting in school groups, alongside flags from other unions

Meanwhile, back in parliament, here’s a revealing tweet from the Daily Mirror’s Kevin Maguire: “Strikes, poverty, joblessness, austerity & general chaos not put Cameron off his claret. PM sipping wine in Commons dining room”

Ten thousand are out marching in Edinburgh, with similar numbers in Liverpool. An updated crowd estimate for Manchester puts the numbers at around 30,000

Francis Maude in parliament makes the disingenuous boast about low strike activity in the health service that UNISON were warning about in this blog’s previous entry at 12:31.

Back to the central issue at hand, a new paper from the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) predicts that the gap between CPI and RPI inflation will increase to 1.4 per cent in future, cutting the value of public and private sector pensions in payment even more than previously forecast.

 The government has changed the way that it uprates public sector pensions in payment from the RPI measure of inflation to the CPI measure. This has been followed by many private sector pension schemes.

In the past the difference between the two measures had been around 0.7 per cent to 0.9 percent but the OBR says in future it will be 1.4 per cent. The OBR paper says: “Further analysis in this paper suggests that a plausible range for the long-run difference between RPI and CPI inflation is around 1.3 to 1.5 percentage points. For the basis of our November 2011 EFO, we assume that the difference between RPI and CPI inflation is around 1.4 percentage points in the long run.”

The switch to CPI will reduce the value of all public and some private sector pensions in payment by around 1.4 per cent a year. The TUC says that over 15 years this will reduce the pensions paid by 17.4 per cent.

Meanwhile, UNISON has accused the Department of Health of planning to fiddle figures to play down the numbers of health workers on strike today.

The union said that the DOH’s figures will not take into account the fact that doctors, RCN and RCM members were never going to walk out today – making it impossible for all health workers to be taking action. UNISON also said that some of its members were exempt from taking action so they can provide emergency cover.

Christina McAnea, UNISON Head of Health, said: “The DOH are so desperate to put down the success of the NHS strike, that they are planning on how best to fiddle the figures of how many workers are taking action. They should take account of the fact that large numbers of NHS staff are members of the RCN, RCM or are doctors, and they are not taking strike action. In addition UNISON members are providing emergency cover where it is needed.”

In the meantime here’s some more demo numbers: Manchester’s march is now estimated to be 15,000-strong, while 3,000 are demonstrating in Plymouth.

It’s reported that Sunderland and Strathclyde universities have cancelled all classes, and Richmond upon Thames College, Blackburn College, Kingston College and City of Westminster College are closed to students.

And a reminder to Unite members to text 86888 for free with messages so they can can broadcast them live on the web.

David Cameron’s PMQs performance is predictably hateful towards organised labour, hinting at more attacks on facility time. One has to pity anyone on strike today who doesn’t normally have to sit through this ritual.

Prospect’s deputy general secretary Dai Hudd reports that more than 200 Prospect members have turned up to march through Bristol, with more joining all the time. “The numbers have far exceeded anything we expected – it’s spectacular,” he says.

The Guardian’s Rob Booth reports that the immigration hall at Heathrow Terminal 3 “is about as quiet as a library”. Of the 44 UK Border Agency desks, 21 are manned.

Meanwhile, while thousands march and millions strike, in the House of Commons bearpit, the usual argy-bargy. “It is hard to imagine a better deal than this,” says Cameron of public sector pensions offer. I can imagine one Dave – your own. Ed Miliband attacks David Cameron for saying negotiations are ongoing at the same time as saying the latest offer is a final one, but says unions “have walked into [Cameron's] trap”.

London Assembly Green Party member Jenny Jones, meanwhile, said the Labour leadership’s refusal to back the strike is “appalling”.

News from the South-West now, where nearly 25,000 NUT members are out. Joint union rallies are being held in Gloucester, Swindon, Chippenham, Trowbridge, Bath, Bristol, Taunton, Dorchester, Bournemouth, Exeter, Torbay, Plymouth and Truro.

In Bristol, more than 120 schools have been forced to shut or partially close, while more than 140 schools are closed or partially closed in Devon County Council’s area and 25 out of 42 in Torbay, with a further 70 in Plymouth affected. In Cornwall, 177 out of 274 schools have also been affected because of the industrial action. In Gloucestershire, more than 160 schools are closed or partially closed with at least 130 affected in Somerset.

Across Dorset, 106 schools will be closed, a further 17 will be partially open and 44 remain unaffected, the county council said. In Wiltshire, 124 schools are closed, with more than 40 schools closed in Swindon.

Bristol airport was operating normally but the Torpoint ferry, which takes cars between Devon and Cornwall, was closed. The Dartmouth Lower Ferry, which is operated by South Hams District Council, was also not running due to industrial action by members of the Transport and General Workers Union. The Dartmouth Higher Ferry and the Passenger Ferry, which is run by other operators, remained in service.

In Dorset, Poole lifting bridge, which connects Poole with Hamworthy, has remained in the raised position all day, with drivers facing a journey of six to seven miles around Holes Bay.

Marches continue to grow with around 10,000 are thought to be out protesting in Newcastle.

Meanwhile, Labour London mayoral hopeful Ken Livingstone tweets that the strike “ is a sign the gvnt has failed to negotiate. Many Londoners being forced to work longer, pay more, get less”.

Anyway, it’s triva hour on the news now – PMQs has started. Expect the ratio of heat to light on the subject of the strikes to be alarmingly high.

The NUT reports that 2,000 people have marched through Doncaster in support of the strike, while hundreds are lining the streets of Exeter. Their education colleagues in UCU say at least a thousand people are out protesting in Brighton.

At Liverpool’s Hope University, the pickets are being fed by local nuns, UNISON reports.

There’s been much focus on the “minimal” disruption at airports, though the PCS confirms that 90 per cent of its 1,200 members at Heathrow have stayed away from work today.

And here’s a message from the International Trade Union Confederation’s general secretary Sharan Burrow.

“Congratulations to TUC and affiliates standing up for pension justice. When governments turn on their people and seek to destroy dignity in retirement because they are cowed by the financial markets they don’t deserve to govern.

The ITUC applauds the courage an tenacity of union members demanding respect and dignity in retirement.”

Big marches are under way in Birmingham and Manchester, and the London one is about to head off.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka tells News24 that the pensions changes are a “robbery”, citing independent analysis that pension costs are fallen and changes have already been made.

“I think it’s extraordinary that people like Michael Gove, who’s supposed to be a statesman, have been running around hurling abuse, when they haven’t even met us for 28 days.” Refuting Francis Maude, he says he’s been at every single meeting with the government since the start of the year.

“Politicians are elected to run a country, not the markets. The government’s approach to the economy is making the situation worse.” The coalition’s policies are a choice, he says. “They’re basically saying that unemployment and misery is a price worth paying.”

Coming up soon on the site, video of picket action in Sheffield. The Union News team are in a pub right now, going through the footage.

More party political news, from Northern Ireland this time: The Guardian is reporting that assembly members from the Democratic Unionist and Ulster Unionist parties crossed picket lines. Traditional Unionist Voice leader Jim Allister also crossed. Sinn Fein and the SDLP have instructed their Assembly members not to go into parliament today in solidarity with union members. What’s the latest from Westminster, Cardiff and Holyrood?

Local government minister Eric Pickles insists the strike turnout is “patchy” and then repeats the frequently rebutted “pensions are unsustainable” line. Pickles also argues that public sector pension schemes are the best pension schemes anyone (anyone? Really?) is likely to get. Though one group of people with better conditions than public sector schemes is the one to which Pickles belongs, MPs.

While the government tries to dismiss levels of support, 1,000 demonstrations are expected to take place at towns and cities across the UK.

Some cross-Channel solidarity now: The French CGT-Force-OUVRIERE, the third-biggest union federation in the country, have sent their own message of support to today’s strikers. “In France, our pension system was reformed a little more than a year ago,” it reads. “French workers demonstrated massively for the occasion in June 2010. Now, the situation is getting worse with austerity measures targeting workers although they are not responsible for the crisis. These measures undo what had been patiently acquired over the years by the workers in terms of social rights.” Read it here

The BBC has to apologise for its lack of live weather forecasts, because Met Office staff in Prospect have walked out, so we get a pre-recorded one. I’m told there are no hurricanes are on the way.

There’s 61 per cent support for the strikes according to a BBC poll, while a Guardian one has support running for the strike at around 80 per cent.

Inevitably, estimates are going to vary on the size of the strike, and on its impact (considerable in schools, civic centres, libraries, public transport, less so it seems at airports), but it’s certainly the biggest strike since the Seventies.

PCS says reports show that across the UK 90 per cent of Revenue and Customs staff have stayed away from work today. Its general secretary Mark Serwotka said: “I have been to pickets around central London and spirits are sky high with many other unions besides PCS out on strike.
“People should be very proud of the stand they are making today in contrast to the shame of the government. Public sector workers have come together today to show their united opposition to the government’s prolonged and concerted attacks on their pensions, jobs and communities.

“But the impact of these cuts, will not only be felt by public sector workers. It will also be felt in those comnities where they live and spend their wages – which is why it needs to be stopped. The ordinary people are the victims of this colossal assault on their pensions, jobs, pay and conditions and that is why they are fighting back today.”

PCS action has ensured all museums across Wales are closed, and around 95 per cent of Liverpool’s 2,000 Home Office employees on thought to be out. There are also reports that Manchester Airport Terminal 3 has closed and managers are being drafted in to try to get it reopened. The Criminal Records Bureau has been unofficially shut down, with no calls being answered, and no work done.

Middlesbrough Crown Court is severely disrupted as is the magistrates’ court with only the remand court sitting. PCS reps at The Crown Prosecution Service in Manchester are reporting a 98% turnout of members.

Fighting stuff from Unite general secretary Len McCluskey, saying 30 November will be remembered as the day when the trade union movement and British working people “renewed their commitment to fight to protect the economic and social welfare advances of the last 60 years”.

McCluskey, head of the country’s largest union, was touring picket lines ahead of speaking to the central London rally in Lincolns Inn Fields, where strikers are already gathering in numbers.

“The fight to protect public service pensions is the latest battle that working people and their families have had to mount to protect the social and economic advances that have been achieved since 1945. But now working people are being asked to pay for the economic mess caused by the greedy City elite whose behaviour this spineless government has repeatedly failed to tackle.

TUC general secretary Brendan Barber was asked by The Sun yesterday to write 200 words on the strike. The paper failed to print it, so here it is

On the telly, the NUT’s Alex Kenny points out that the teacher pension scheme is in surplus, “is funding itself and is sustainable in the long term”.

Marchers are beginning to gather all over the country too. Send us your reports on tomdaviesontour@yahoo.com and follow Union News on Twitter at @UnionNewsUK

I’m gonna have a coffee break now – ‘elf and safety, see – so in the meantime here’s an appropriate tune from Billy Bragg. Back in 10.

Latest Tweet from Ed Miliband: “I’m not going to condemn public servants who feel they’re in impossible position. It is the Gov’ts failure that has led to today’s strike.”

Meanwhile, an entertaining text is read out on News24 from a kid stuck at one of the small number of schools open, moaning about being stuck in a PSE lesson. A rather better lesson in citizenship might have been gained by the school shutting and the kids encountering a picket line, methinks.

Here’s a round-up from UNISON on today’s actions so far.

• Transport: Closures include the Torpoint Ferry – the last ferry 11.45 last night as well as the Mersey Tunnel, and the Tyne and Wear Metro. There is no public transport in Northern Ireland. The Humber Bridge is not collecting tolls. In Cardiff the Bute Tunnel has been closed for the full 24 hours, Cardiff Barrage is closed and locked (except in emergency situations). All parks are closed. Cardiff Bus service is not running.
• Birmingham Central Library is closed
• A total of 22 libraries in the East Midlands are closed, along with 943 schools and 136 public buildings
• In Carmarthenshire County 62 schools are closed, leisure services are disrupted, and no refuse or recycling is taking place. All schools in Cardiff are closing, recycling and waste collection is disrupted, and 14 libraries closed. Many public buildings are closed including the City/Town Hall.
• Durham County Council  - 244 (out of 265) schools closed, and in Durham Police – No civilian police staff on duty in police stations
• Gateshead Council civic centre is closed, except for two hours early this morning. Gateshead Housing Company and the vast majority of depots are closed.
• Hartlepool Council’s civic centre is shut to the public, but some staff available to deal with urgent queries. All 40 of Hartlepool’s schools are closed, as well as all Council-run museums, art galleries, sports and leisure centres, libraries (including the home library and library bus services) and day centres are closed. Hartlepool’s Maritime Experience (HME) is closed. The Town Hall Theatre is also closed, except for pre-arranged private bookings. All community centres are closed, apart from certain pre-arranged private bookings. Residents have been asked not to put their wheelie bins out today as there will be no refuse collection and the Household Waste Recycling Centre in Burn Road will be closed.
• Forty schools are closed in Middlesbrough with picket lines on ones that have attempted to stay open.
• In Newcastle there is no bin collection service or recycling collection. No bulky article collection and 17 libraries are shut. All area housing offices closed. 3 out of 5 depots closed. All customer service centres closed.  Newcastle College – Closed.
• North East Ambulance Service – Emergency cover has been agreed but six ambulance stations are being picketed.
• South Tyneside Council – The Council is only opening South Shields Town Hall, Middlefields Depot and Kelly House, Hebburn, HQ for Childrens Social Work. All other buidings are closed. There are no refuse collections or street cleaning. All schools are closed for teaching.
• South Tyneside Homes has only opened its HQ; area offices are closed. South Tyneside – College is open but with no teaching.
• Stockton Council – all libraries except one are closed.
• Sunderland City Council – 103 schools confirmed closed and five partial closures. All 20 libraries are closed and the one mobile library isn’t operating. There are no refuse or recycling collections. Difficult to gauge exactly how many buildings are shut but the website is stating all wellness facilities, children’s centres, leisure centres and customer services centres are closed to the public. Sunderland University is closed except for 1 library.

The day of action began at midnight, as Eleanor Smith, UNISON President and theatre nurse, lead hospital workers including midwives, hospital porters, hospital cleaners and nurses out of Birmingham Women’s Hospital in Edgbaston.

Candlelight vigils marked midnight around the country at hospitals in Bristol and Gloucester, and workers walked out of the Mersey Tunnel which shut down at 12 o’clock. The union’s battlebus is touring picket lines including City Hall and London Ambulance Service in the capital, joined by the UNISON general secretary Dave Prentis, who will be speaking at a rally in Birmingham at 1.30pm.

The latest on school closures, according to the Beeb, is that only 2,700 out of 20,000 schools are open. Elsewhere Brighton University has reportedly been closed by today’s action. And in legal news, pickets are out in force at the Old Bailey and the Royal Courts of Justice. Truly, there is no justice.

More parliamentary politics: Labour MP Karl Turner has been praised by PCS for refusing to cross the union’s picket line at Parliament. Health Secretary Andrew Lansley reiterates the “we’re in direct discussions, we’re making an improved offer” line on News24. And boasting that the government is not proposing to increase NHS employees’ pension contributions if they’re on under £15,000. We’re doffing our caps at your generosity here, guv.

And there’s reports of a large police presence around the CLR James Library in Dalston.

Current estimates on number of schools closed seems to vary between 85 and 90 per cent.

Meanwhile PCS estimates that 95 per cent of its members at the DWP in Cardiff are out, and 85 per cent of all staff. Meanwhile spirits are being kept up at the UCU picket line in Bradford with cake and balloons, and good support from students.

And, as reported earlier, Occupy London protesters have been out and about in support of the strike, draping a massive “we are the 99 per cent” banner over a barrier at Liverpool Street station in London.

More encouraging globalisation news: The president of the Federation of Independent Trade Unions and NGOs of Trinidad and Tobago, David Abdulah, has sent a message of support for the strike. The TUC says his statement of backing is “a good enough read on its own. But it’s even better when you recall that just under two years ago we were protesting to his government about the harassment of his own trade union, and the arrest of David himself”.

And here’s Unite’s handy interactive guide to today’s protest events.

Lib Dem president Tim Farron says it’s unhelpful to describe union members as hell-bent on striking, and says it’s important to recognise they have a right to strike. He condemns macho language on both sides but rehashes the line that an improved deal is on offer and that he doesn’t support the strike. “There’s no Roosevelt-style sunlit uplands that we’re heading to,” he adds, on the economy. So, There Is No Alternative, in other words then.

Staying on party politics, Labour members and voters in support of the strike are urged to explain why using the Twitter hashtag #Lab4N30

In brighter news, here’s some more international solidarity, this time from America. Representatives of National Nurses United, the largest nursing union in the US, will picket and deliver a letter of solidarity at the British embassy in Washington DC, in support of their counterparts in Britain.

Certain civilian specialists at the MoD have been exempted from today’s action because of what Prospect calls their essential emergency role in conflicts in Afghanistan elsewhere. A full report is up on Union News here.

Elsewhere, the RMT is trumpeting a total shutdown of key transport service in the north-east. The union confirmed today that rock-solid strike action on Tyne and Wear Metro and the ferries has led to a total shutdown.

Later this morning, strikers and supporters will gather in Gateshead for a march to Spillers Wharf in Newcastle for a rally at noon which will be addressed by a range of speakers from the different unions including Bob Crow, RMT General Secretary.

RMT Royal Fleet Auxiliary members are also involved in the action and pickets are out at Portland, Falmouth and on a joint protest with PCS members in Portsmouth amongst other sites.

Crow said: “We are sending the clearest message to the Government that we will defend our pensions to the hilt and the outrageous demand that our members should work longer, pay more and get less has been thrown back in the faces of this Government of millionaire public schoolboys.

“It’s the bankers and the bosses who have gambled with our country’s future and the men and women who make our services tick should not have to tolerate a worse pension, and be forced to work longer, to make up for their mistakes. RMT members on Tyne and Wear Metro and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary have shown that they are not going to sit back and take this outrageous attempt to consign them to a life of poverty in their old age.”

The NAS/UWT’s deputy general secretary Patrick Roach is the latest union leader on BBC News “It’s time to tell the public the truth about public sector pensions,” he says.

BBC reporting that immigration services at airports running at around two-thirds of capacity, though passenger numbers are down. PCS says the identity and passport Service in London is likely to process only 50 passports today – it usually gets through 1,000. And only a total of 17 passport interviews are likely to take place – the normal number is 200.

UNISON is encouraging members to text in their reports and messages to 66644, starting with the keyword “strike” (normal network charges apply). And BBC Scotland has a phone-in on the strike – call it on 0500 929500.

Union News’ reporting team has just been filming on a picket line outside a job centre in Sheffield, where the mood among PCS pickets is determined and upbeat. Look out for a short film from them on the site at lunchtime. Strikers there are angry with the government and hinted that one strike wouldn’t be enough to resolve the dispute.

Ed Balls is back on the news, reiterating the Labour leadership’s line that the strikes are “a sign of failure”. Read into that what you will.

In other news, it seems appropriate to report that caterers in the Brick Lane area in the east end of London have formed the first ever Bangladeshi workers union to counter poverty wages.

Send us your picket line reports

Morning again all, I’m live-blogging today’s public sector strike as two million walk out in protest at the attack on their pensions. You can follow us on Twitter at @UnionNewsUK or email me at tomdaviesontour@yahoo.com.

Here’s more updates: All buses and trains in Northern Ireland have come to a halt, and most of its 1,200 schools will be closed, reports the Guardian’s Henry McDonald. And 3,000 people will be affected by the stopping of refuse collection services in Newport, south Wales.

PCS reports solid action

PCS reports an estimated 80 per cent of staff at the Department for Work and Pensions’ Peterborough office have not turned up for work today, while a similar number are reported to have not turned up for work at the Met Police’s East London branch.

Stephen Lawrence’s family’s solicitor, Imran Khan, has sent a message of support to the PCS. “I am, and always have been, committed to public services whether in the legal profession or elsewhere,” he says. “In terms of the legal profession I have seen first-hand how cuts affect those that are most vulnerable in society. Whilst I cannot join those protesting tomorrow I shall do whatever I can to ensure public services are protected and enhanced. I wish all those involved in the action well. I am sure the day will be a huge success.”

Second-home expenses leech Francis Maude is back on the telly, insisting that meaningful negotiations are still going on, merrily oblivious to the fact that no one on the opposite side of the table seems to think they are.

Dave Prentis counters that the last time he was round the table with all the unions about all the schemes was 2 November, and that Danny Alexander’s talk of “final offers” contradicts claims that negotiations are still meaningful and ongoing. “The big issue for our members, and the people taking action today, is the 50 per cent increase in contributions.

“We can’t have a race to the bottom,” he adds, returning to his anti-divide-and-rule theme.

Prentis: we want sustainable pensions

It’s UNISON’S Dave Prentis’s turn on the Breakfast Time sofa, dismissing myths about ‘gold-plated’ pensions. “Not one single penny” of people’s extra pension contributions will go into pension funds, but instead will be raided by the treasury, Prentis reminds viewers. He also says that Britain’s state pension is the lowest in Europe and points out that a contract has been breached. In response to a question about private sector provision, Prentis argues that the real divide and rule comes from managing directors taking money out of private pension schemes.

“We’re looking for an agreement, for sustainable pensions,” he adds, saying that if UNISON got a decent new offer, it would put it to members. It’s not about union barons calling the shots, he says.

As an aside, how do you get to become a union “baron”? Do you have to be a union duke, or a prince first?

Some more news from round and about: The Mersey tunnels closed at midnight as workers were among the first to walk out. College and university lecturers union UCU have been out and about around Liverpool in their battle bus, while Belfast is preparing for a big rally in the city centre later today. More than 200,000 are expected to be out on strike in Northern Ireland.

Unite, meanwhile, Tweets news of a 120-strong picket outside the Ministry of Defence in Donnington, and is encouraging all its members to text messages and reports from picket lines – 86888 is the number.

Newcastle council’s positive touch

One hears a lot at present about councils implementing cuts with relish and being at loggerheads with unions and their workforces, so props to Newcastle city council for its initiative to give the savings it makes from today’s strike to local grassroots anti-poverty groups. More details from the TUC here

Also from the TUC, here’s a round-up of today’s actions around the UK.

Meanwhile Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, has just been on Breakfast Time, saying the unions should give more ground while also attacking the chancellor and government for not sorting things out. He does go on to say that striking workers are justified in feeling the changes are unfair. A mixed message overall. Osborne and David Cameron have, he says, been “itching for confrontation”. “You shouldn’t be hitting the lowest paid in this way,” adds Balls.

Have your say in Breakfast Time poll

BBC Breakfast is asking people to send in their thoughts about today’s actions. Email bbcbreakfast@bbc.co.uk or Tweet @bbcbreakfast

Elsewhere, the Department of Education is claiming 13 per cent of schools are open.

And a reminder from Manchester that the demo and march starts at Bexley Square from 10.30am (hat-tip to Manchester Evening News reporter Jen Williams)

Local and international solidarity from War on Want

War on Want will be joining in today’s protests in support of the strikes. Campaigners from the anti-poverty charity will be at Islington and Camden town halls in London between 8 and 9am, serving hot drinks and food to pickets, before heading off to the march that starts at Lincoln’s Inn Fields at midday and on to Westminster Pier by the embankment at 2.15pm for the big rally.

War on Want’s partner organisation in Bangladesh, the National Garment Workers Federation, will hold a rally in Dhaka in solidarity with the British strikers. The strikes are also supported by its Sri Lanka partner, the Free Trade Zones and General Service Employees Union.

Amirul Haque Amin, president of the National Garment Workers’ Federation, said: “The federation has been fighting for the rights of garment workers in Bangladesh since 1984. We will stand with the public sector workers in the UK on 30 November in your fight against the attacks on your pensions and the cuts that your government have imposed. We know that these abuses and the programme of cuts will make thousands of you poorer as a result and as workers, we stand united against poverty wherever it is found.”

Osborne riffs on tired old theme

Hold on to your breakfasts folks, George Osborne’s just been on BBC Breakfast Time, fulminating against the strikes, claiming that they will damage the economy and “cost jobs”, the day after he talked of cutting jobs himself. He also claimed the government’s latest pension offer is “generous”, riffing again on his silly “national credit card” theme and suggesting the alternative to his attacks on public sector workers is national bankruptcy. Gideon also claimed that the debt was racked up in the boom years, conveniently ignoring the fact that the debt jumped up because of the bank bailouts.

Before that, the Beeb spoke to workers at the newly privatised Tyne and Wear Metro who are among those out on strike, having carried over their public sector pensions, RMT members eloquently pointing out to BBC news that pensions had already been restructured to become sustainable while MPs and company directors are those with the real “gold-plated pensions”.

Occupy London shows its support for strikers

Protestors from the Occupy London camp will be holding an impromptu demo at Liverpool Street around about now in support of today’s strike. Follow their action here.

Well known weather forecasters will be absent from our screens today as Prospect members at the Met Office join today’s strike.  The majority of the Met Officc’s 1,800 staff at its Exeter HQ, around the country and at the BBC weather centre are expected to join the walkout. Well-known names such as Laura Tobin and Alex Deakin will be missing from our screens.

However, Prospect has agreed to provide emergency cover to ensure key information is available for aviation, shipping, defence and emergency services such as emergency flood warnings.

Deakin, the local Prospect rep for the London forecasters, said: “While we are impacted by the proposed changes [to pensions], our main concern is to support other colleagues in the Met Office and across the public sector for whom the impact will be devastating.”

Scottish teachers leader heartened by backing from parents

The Educational Institute of Scotland, the largest teaching union in Scotland, says it is encouraged by the level of support its members have received from parents and the public as they embark on the first national strike in Scottish education for more than a century.

EIS general secretary Ronnie Smith said: “EIS members in schools, colleges and universities across Scotland are making a strong and united stand with their public sector colleagues in defence of their pension rights and their standard of living. There has been excellent support for today’s action right across the country as teachers and lecturers make a stand against the government’s damaging and unjustified raid on public sector pensions.

“We have been encouraged by strong support from parents and the wider public for our campaign. Parents understand very well the pressures associated with the increasing cost of living at a time of pay restraint and pay cuts. Contrary to the anti-public sector propaganda that has been circulating in recent weeks, public sector workers such as teachers do not enjoy lavish pay and conditions packages or lavish pensions. The average public sector pension is £5,600 a year after many years of public service. For teachers, the average public sector pension is around £10,000 a year after a lifetime in the classroom.

“It is interesting to note that, as the coalition government attempts to cut the pensions and with it the monthly pay of ordinary public sector workers, one of the few public sector pension schemes that would be untouched by the changes is that enjoyed by government ministers themselves.

“It seems it is one rule of cuts for teachers, nurses and janitors and another of continuing generosity for the highly-paid cabinet millionaires in Downing Street.”

Good morning and welcome, particularly to those of you who are up early for picket duty, or are already out and about. We’ll be bringing you live reports, update and comments from throughout the day as around two million public sector workers take action to defend their pensions. You can follow us on Twitter at @UnionNewsUK or email me your own strike updates at tomdaviesontour@yahoo.com. To begin with, here’s a rallying cry from UNISON.

Prentis: I’m proud of all our members

UNISON  general secretary Dave Prentis said he was proud of his union’s 1.1million members as they embarked on the biggest strike in the public sector union’s history.

“This is an historic week for our union.  The time has come to make your stand and join the fight for a fair pensions deal.  I am so proud of all our members – including the nurses, social workers, PCSOs, librarians, dinner ladies, teaching assistants, bin men and paramedics who will be standing shoulder to shoulder on picket lines tomorrow.

“We know we have the public on our side.  They know that public service workers are not asking for more – they just want the pension deal they were promised.

“Taking strike action is not an easy option, especially with Christmas just round the corner, but we will show Government ministers tomorrow that we will not take this pensions tax lying down.”