HUNDREDS of thousands of workers from several trade unions will strike on Wednesday in what threatens to be the biggest single day of industrial action since the current wave of unrest started last year.
Some of the strikes, such as those by teachers, will only be held in England as progress has been made in Wales and Scotland.
These are the sectors in Scotland affected by the Budget Day walkouts.
Civil service
Around 130,000 members of the Public and Commercial Services union and thousands of civil servants in Prospect are involved in a long-running dispute over pay, jobs and conditions.
An estimated 1000 picket lines are organised including at the Scottish Parliament, job centres, DWP offices, Historic Environment Scotland and, for the first time, HMRC.
The unions say it will be the biggest strike in the civil service for decades.
Education
A third teachers’ union in Scotland has voted to accept an improved pay offer – with Holyrood’s Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville saying the move means the threat of further strikes in schools has now been lifted.
Universities
More than 70,000 staff members of the University and College Union (UCU) will begin the first of three successive days of strike action across 150 universities in the UK.
The UCU is currently in negotiations with the Universities and Colleges Employers Association (UCEA), which represents 144 employers, via the conciliation service Acas.
The union is set to strike on Wednesday, as well as on Thursday 16, Friday 17, Monday 20, Tuesday 21 and Wednesday 22 March.
Last month, UCU members staged six days of walkouts across the UK. The UCU is also re-balloting its members to allow university staff to take further industrial action through the rest of the academic year if their demands are not met by employers.
