In action being taken by members of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers..some 3 thousand English schools will be shut tomorrow.. some 22 hundred others working under skeleton staffs.. That's a million students with an unscheduled day off..
The Issues are pensions, that government changes will mean they will have to work longer, pay more and get less when they retire..
Education Secretary Michael Gove told the Commons the strike would cause "massive inconvenience to hard-working families" and would hit working women particularly hard..
The move by the Unions.. in fact any strike action by any of the Unions, is a development no government needs at this point.
One would think that while it may be a bitter pill to swallow, previous governments and investment controls has put us all in a situation wherein sacrifice must be made.. and that this would be fully recognized by all who have the privilege of a job to go to.. There are many, outside the influence of a Union, who would happily take their place should the opportunity present itself.

Case in point. Statistics indicate that the disposable income of the average British household has fallen to it's lowest level since 1977..
The Office for National Statistics said that in the year to the end of March real incomes.. adjusted for inflation.. fell 2.7%, a fall not seen since that year..
A disturbing trend for a society which has grown used to substantially more.. either through easy credit, or through increases in wages..
The difficulty in this, is the effect it has on those who live on fixed incomes.. Those who perhaps worked all their lives, invested their savings in what they believed to be the wise hands of those who's business is nothing but investment..
But lest it be forgotten, swept under the carpet, it was speculative houses and banks which, to a large part, put us in this hole. It might well be said this was coming anyway, what with the 'easy money' generations which followed the 50's and 60's..
But regardless who's shoulders the blame is laid upon, the fact remains we are in a position today, wherein we have had a drastic margin call..
The Piper must be paid.

As a sidebar, the Police Association reports there has been a 'significant' increase in robberies, burglaries, and muggings since the start of the economic slowdown..
No surprise, really..

Greece is perhaps the harbinger of what's to come throughout the Eurozone..
Parliament is due to vote today and tomorrow on a series of new austerity measures in a bid to sort out the country's finances and secure another bailout..
Proposed by Prime Minister George Papandreou's Socialist Party, the measures include lowering the income tax threshold from 12,000 to 8,000 Euros..
They also feature a tightening of means-tested benefits.. 150 thousand redundancies in the public sector.. and yet another clampdown on tax evasion..
Other proposals being voted on are the privatisation.. read 'selling off'.. of some of Greece' ports, airports, banks, railways and energy companies, as well as the part-privatisation of the postal service..
The Greeks are not happy.. Papandreou has said that only his 28billion Euro austerity plan would get Greece back on its feet.. but police have fired tear gas in running battles with stone-throwing youths in Athens, where a 48-hour general strike is being held against the parliamentary vote on these tough austerity measures..

One has to wonder how long it will be, before demonstrations the likes of those in the Eurozone spread worldwide.. The US has 9.2% unemployment, and a trillion dollar debt.. taking the Eurozone as a whole, the growth ion GDP, if any, will be bolstered only by Germany, and to some small extent, France.. The Middle East is in utter chaos as the average Arab wants to join in on what's seen as a better Western lifestyle..
This next decade is going to be exceedingly interesting to watch.. as China begins to control it's own unemployment problems..
Just an observation..

And just a note.. Christine Lagarde.. the French Finance Minister.. was named as the next head of the International Monetary Fund.. the first woman to lead one of the institutions charged since the end of the Second World War with maintaining global financial order..
Best of British luck to you Christine. With all his pecadillo's, Domenique leaves large shoes to be filled..
And the global financial system will fight tooth and nail to resist any 'restrictions' that could lead to order..