THOUSANDS of public-sector workers in Scotland are to go on strike on Thursday causing disruption at Scottish and UK Government departments including Jobcentres and courts.
Up to 30,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) are protesting at Westminster's pension reforms.
The union's Scottish Secretary, Lynn Henderson, said the changes, which appeared in April's pay packets for the first time, were costing some members up to £150 a month.
She said workers were "very angry" and she expected strong support for the strike.
Other Government departments that will be affected include tax and benefit offices, courts, coastguards, Historic Scotland venues including Edinburgh Castle and Stirling Castle, civilian workers at the Faslane nuclear base and the Scottish Parliament.
Some health workers, mainly porters and technicians from the Unite union, are also expected to take action.
In England, the strike will be more widespread, with 400,000 expected to take part including lecturers, health workers, Ministry of Defence staff, immigration officers, off-duty police officers and members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.
PCS figures from last year show the average civil service pension was £6000, and for lower-paid staff it was around £4200. Average pay was £22,850 a year, and 63% of civil servants earned less than £25,000.
Ms Henderson said the impact of the reforms on PCS workers had started to be felt with pension contributions adjusted last month. She said: "Since this was introduced our members are already losing between £60 and £150 per month. It won't go to their pensions but straight to the Treasury."
Ms Henderson said there would be pickets at Government buildings and rallies in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Inverness and Dundee.
STUC general secretary Graeme Smith said the action demonstrated the frustration people were feeling.
"People feel aggrieved at being asked to pay more, having to work longer and get less at the end of the day," he said.
CBI Scotland director Iain McMillan said: "Many individuals in the private sector have been moved from generous final-salary pension schemes to much less generous defined contribution schemes and, although pensions in the public sector will not be as good, in many cases going forward they are still better than what one often finds in the private sector today.
"Public-sector workers should be grateful taxpayers are still willing to pay for pensions that in many cases are better than their private sector counterparts."
Finance Secretary John Swinney said the Civil Service Pension Scheme was reserved to Westminster. He added: "The UK's Government's short-term changes to pensions are nothing more than a cash grab to reduce the deficit and do nothing to address the sustainability of pensions over the long term.
"In partnership with trade unions and employer representatives, we are already discussing the long-term reform of public sector pensions in Scotland to apply from April 2015 that will reflect the unique nature of our workforce."
Meanwhile, Scotland's local government unions today lodged their annual pay claim on behalf of council workers.
Unison the GMB and Unite are calling for a living wage of £7.20 an hour and a £1000 flat payment for workers made up of £500 for this year and £500 for last year.
A spokesman for local authority body Cosla said: "The bottom line is that pay in local government across all of the workforce is settled until April 2013."
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