Many workers belong to Trade Unions. These are organisations that work for people in a trade or profession, teachers for instance. By collecting together members can speak with one voice about things like pay and working hours, and make more of an impact.

The strikes that happened in the UK on Wednesday 30th November were about pensions – the money you get to live on after you retire. The strikes were called by unions representing people that work in the public sector. This means people who are paid by the tax that people pay – either national or local government. Teachers, health care workers, dustbin men, and ambulance drivers are all examples of people
that are paid by the taxes that people pay.

The strike on Wednesday meant that many schools were closed, or that some classes were cancelled. This caused a lot of inconvenience for parents. Where it was safe to do so, parents were allowed to take children to work with them for the day.

In Slovakia hospital doctors have been complaining about their pay. Many of these problems over pay and pensions are because of the worldwide financial difficulties. People are also living a lot longer and so this also affects how much money is needed for pensions.

Pete Miller

zdroj foto: shuterstock.com