The chancellor must look to the future and continue to invest to deliver world class public services.

I believe local government workers have been singled out for second class treatment because they are mostly women.

Strike action is the only option left to local government workers. They want to demonstrate the burning resentment and anger they feel over the government and employers taking away their pension rights when those same rights have been given to every other public-sector pension scheme.

Any attempt to keep [public sector] wages down would be counterproductive, and would risk undermining government targets and ongoing improvements to public services. Proper pay is the key to providing decent public services. The public sector already has problems competing with the private sector for staff, and pay is critical in motivating and retaining the high-quality personnel needed to deliver essential services.

They are not selfish people, they are not using any excuse to call 'strike' and have a day off -- they are asking simply for what they have paid for and what they deserve. This immoral behavior from employers is the very reason our members are angry and frustrated. They are not militant as a rule but they have no choice other than to strike.

Fairness has gone out of the window. The government has quite rightly agreed to give protection of their promised retirement age to every other public sector worker. But they are leaving members of the Local Government Pension Scheme out in the cold.