Unison leader calls for ‘rolling wave’ of strikes

With 12 days to go before the mass walk-out of teachers, hospital staff and other state employees on June 30, the leader of Unison, Britain's largest public sector union, has warned that it could be the start of a campaign of industrial action not seen since the general strike of 1926.

Dave Prentis told the Guardian today that a one-day strike would not be enough to change the government's mind about its demand for pension reforms. It will take a wave of strike action, rolling from one region to the next and from sector to sector, to get the result the unions want.

"It will be the biggest since the general strike," he said. "It won't be the miners' strike. We are going to win."

As well as being general secretary of Unison, which represents 1.4 million state-employed members, Prentis chairs the public sector group at the TUC.

He told the Guardian he still hopes that a solution can be reached in current negotiations with the government over its pension reforms.

But the likelihood of a negotiated settlement looked grim yesterday after the government announced that, as well as demanding higher pension contributions from state workers, it now plans to increase the state retirement age to 66 and move to a career average pension scheme to replace the more generous final salary version.

Because the announcement preempted any conclusion to the talks with the unions, Brendan Barber, TUC general secretary, called it "deeply inflammatory".

As well as attacking the coalition for taking what he called "a Daily Mail view of the public sector", Prentis complained that the Labour party is not providing a strong enough opposition to the coalition.

Unison donated more than £400,000 last year, and Prentis made it clear he's not getting his money's worth. The unions are still waiting for the Labour party to back their fight over pensions. Remaining silent, he said, will "become an issue". ·