Today, hundreds of thousands of public sector workers, including teachers, are on strike. Stuart Arnold answers key questions about the dispute.

Q:WHAT is this about?

A:PUBLIC-SECTOR unions object to proposed changes to pensions they say will mean their members work eight years longer, pay three times more and receive half as much.

The Government wants public-sector pensions to change in four ways. Firstly, for final salary schemes – where the size of the pension depends on the final salary of the employee – to be replaced by average salary schemes, where the payout depends on the salary averaged over the employee’s working life.

Secondly, to raise the retirement age to at least 66.

Thirdly, to increase civil servants’ contributions.

Although that has yet to be decided, the increases range from 3.2 per cent to five per cent, which will feel like a pay cut to many.

Finally, in April, the civil service pension was linked to the Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rather than the Retail Prices Index (RPI), both measures of inflation.

The CPI is usually considerably lower than the RPI, so it is estimated that by 2027, a pension will be 12 per cent lower under CPI than under RPI.

The unions accuse the Government of taking an increasingly tough stance, and of reneging on an agreement in 2006-7 that was billed as a once-in-a-lifetime review of pensions.

Although pensions are the strikers’ headline issue, there is growing dismay in the public sector over pay freezes and job losses.

Q:WHAT is the Government’s take on this?

A: IT wants to reform public-sector pensions in line with recommendations made by the last Labour government.

Chancellor George Osborne says the rising cost of the pension schemes is unsustainable, partly because of people living longer. Prime Minister David Cameron says the proposals are fair to taxpayers and workers alike.

The changes will bring the public sector more in line with the private sector, where final salary schemes have nearly all been closed and where contributions have escalated.

Q:WHO is taking part in the strike action?

A: THERE are three teaching unions, the largest of which is the National Union of Teachers (NUT), along with the Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) and the University and College Union (UCU). The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), which represents civil servants, is also taking part.

The unions received big backing for the industrial action in their ballots – 92 per cent of those taking part in the NUT ballot said yes.

However, the turnouts were not overwhelming.

Forty per cent of NUT members voted, 35 per cent of ATL members voted and 32 per cent of PCS members voted, leading the Government to point out than only one in five of all PCS members voted in favour of the strike.

Boris Johnson, the London Conservative mayor, is leading calls for new laws that prevent unions from striking without 50 per cent backing from their members.

Q:WHAT will be affected?

A: ESTIMATES suggest more than 750,000 people will strike. That includes about 25,000 civil servants in this region.

More than 500 schools, both primary and secondary, in the North-East and North Yorkshire are expected to close. Sixteen colleges and three universities in the region will be hit by walkouts, although with many students having already left for the summer break or completed their exams, disruption is expected to be minimal. Courts are likely to be disrupted and driving tests could be cancelled.

Walkouts are expected at the passport office in Durham, potentially causing delays to applications.

Other Government agencies including the Independent Safeguarding Authority, in Darlington, which vets people working with children and vulnerable adults, have PCS members, although their work is not particularly visible to the public.

Q:WHAT about job centres – will they be operating as normal?

A: THE Department for Work and Pensions says it does not expect they will close and that it was prepared for strike action. Telephone services will be maintained, as will faceto- face services, where possible.

The vast majority of people receiving benefits will also be paid as normal since more than 98 per cent of payments are made automatically via bank accounts. There will be no requirement to sign on today, as jobseekers’ allowance will also be paid automatically.

Q:COULD the dispute escalate?

A: AT the moment, most unions are not taking part. The country’s largest public sector union, Unison, which represents council workers and hospital staff, says it will await the outcome of further meetings with the Government on pensions before deciding whether to press ahead with a ballot for strikes involving more than a million workers.

Another public-sector union, Unite, may join a co-ordinated strike later this year, depending on the outcome of negotiations with the Government.

Q:WHAT is Labour’s take on this? Is it making hay at the expense of the coalition Government?

A: NOT really. Labour leader Ed Miliband has said the strikes are a mistake and has urged both sides to reach an agreement.

Bear in mind that it was a Labour government that commissioned the report on pensions.

Q:WILL the dispute be settled at some stage?

A: PROBABLY, but both sides would need to meet in the middle and, at the moment, there is said to be a major gap between them.

Strikes could be damaging for the unions and the Government, particularly if the dispute drags on.

A way forward could be for each individual group of workers to work out their own arrangements on a scheme-by-scheme basis rather than a blanket agreement being reached.