BRITAIN saw its biggest day of strike action in a decade yesterday, as half a million public-sector workers protested over pay and working conditions in “walkout Wednesday.”

Teachers, lecturers, civil servants and train drivers withdrew their labour nationwide, with many gathering for massive demonstrations in London, Cardiff, Brighton, Liverpool, Newcastle and elsewhere.

The TUC accused the Tory government’s “Cabinet of millionaires” of being unable to understand the impact of falling real-terms wages and double-digit inflation on struggling key workers. 

The union body organised demonstrations in various locations as part of its “defend the right to strike day.”

Flanked by striking teachers and paramedic staff, general secretary Paul Nowak handed No 10 Downing Street a 200,000-strong petition which demanded Prime Minister Rishi Sunak drop the widely condemned Strikes (Minimum Service Levels) Bill.

The legislation, which is set to face stiff opposition in the House of Lords after being rushed through the Commons earlier this week, would reduce workers to the status of a “slave,” train drivers’ union Aslef charged.

General secretary Mick Whelan said the Bill, which would empower bosses to sack employees who refuse to cross their own picket lines and provide a certain level of service during walkouts, could effectively ban industrial action.

“If you don’t have a right to strike then you’re a slave,” he warned.

His members, who held another day of industrial action across 15 train operators yesterday, downed tools because bosses are “making money, declaring profits and paying dividends, and yet their workers haven’t had a pay rise in four years,” the union leader stressed.

Mick Lynch, head of fellow rail union RMT, which joined the action, declared that the working class “are back.”

Addressing a large crowd of striking workers in Westminster, some carrying “pay up” placards, he said: “Every worker needs a pay rise, every worker needs a square deal.

“We will not be divided. We are the working-class, and we are back.

“We are here, we are demanding change, we refuse to be bought, and we are going to win for our people on our terms.”

Wales TUC leader Shavanah Taj told a rally in Cardiff she was “disgusted” by Education Secretary Gillian Keegan’s claim that it is “not credible” that overworked and underpaid teachers are regularly using foodbanks.

“There was a time when teachers and teaching assistants would bring in food for children — now they bring in food to share with each other because those same teachers have families of their own.”

The National Education Union (NEU) said 85 per cent of schools across England and Wales were affected by its first of seven national strikes yesterday.

Joint general secretaries Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney urged Ms Keegan to act before the next walkouts across England on February 28. Teachers in Scotland launched industrial action in November.

The University and College Union said it was “overwhelmed by the support of students” as 70,000 lecturers, librarians and other higher education staff withdrew their labour at 150 institutions nationwide.

The union’s University of Leeds branch campaigns officer Lesley McGorrigan said co-ordinated action between unions is “exactly what we need — workers coming together.

“I hope the TUC will do more,” she told the Morning Star. “Everyone is suffering under what this government is doing, what the employers are doing.

“It is blatant, with people being crushed and the wealth going upwards.

“This is the way to win — hard-hitting action to get the employers to back down.”

Mark Serwotka, head of Civil Service union PCS, which saw 100,000 members at 123 government departments and other public bodies walk out, said “If you’re on strike, be proud of yourself.”

He told Politics Joe: “If we stick together, we can win. This a big moment – either the government gets away with making the people with the least pay the biggest price for problems we didn’t create, or it’s the moment our fightback gathers pace and we win.”

The Fire Brigades Union hailed a “historic moment for the labour movement.”

General secretary Matt Wrack, who announced on Monday that his members had backed national strikes in a recent ballot, said: “Unions are fighting not to disrupt public services, but to save them – I’m proud to support today’s day of action.”

And Unite Yorkshire and Humber regional secretary Karen Reay hailed a massive march and rally in Leeds, saying the action is “just a fraction of what is happening across the country – every workplace, every street.”

She told the Star: “We are defending the one basic right that workers can expect – the right to strike.”

Ms Reay accused ministers of “going beyond Thatcher’s wildest dreams,” but stressed: “We are winning.

“When we are winning the Tories attack us — the one thing they are afraid of is an angry worker.”