Unison said it expected its 600,000 members working in local government to solidly support the walk-out, which was called in protest at a 2.45% pay offer.

In Leeds, several hundred strikers gathered outside the city's art gallery.

They were entertained by a band, Monkey Wrench, while people dressed as Cinderella characters wandered among the crowd.

The characters symbolised the strikers' view that they are the Cinderella figures of public sector.

Christina McAnea, Unison national secretary, said at the rally: "We are very pleased here in Leeds where 90% of our members have taken part in strike action.

"We don't set out to close schools and cause disruption. But we have no option if we want to get local government employers to come back to the negotiating table and make us a realistic offer.

"The offer of 2.45% is, in fact, a pay cut and some of our members are on as little as £6 an hour."

In Leeds, around 30 schools were closed today along with the main library and an assortment of community centres, one-stop centres and recycling sites.

General secretary Dave Prentis predicted that the stoppage would be solidly supported, with anger over pay fuelled by yesterday's new inflation figures showing that prices are continuing to rise.

Mr Prentis said the industrial action in England, Wales and Northern Ireland would be one of the biggest since the General Strike of 1926.
The walk-out, which also involves members of Unite, will put fresh pressure on Prime Minister Gordon Brown's policy of pay restraint in the public sector.

Chancellor Alistair Darling has repeated the Government's plea for restraint but council workers said they were not prepared to accept another below-inflation pay rise.

The two sides in the dispute clashed today over reserves kept in the bank by councils which Unison said should be used to increase the pay offer.

Mr Prentis said on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme that efficiency savings in the past few years meant that local authorities had £3 billion of unallocated reserves and there was "no reason" why some of that should not be used on pay.

But John Ransford, of the Local Authority Employers, said on the same programme that the money was being held as a contingency reserve and it would be "crazy economics" to use it for pay.

He said it was "simply not true" that there were billions of pounds sitting in bank accounts and insisted that the 2.45% was a fair and reasonable offer.

Unison said early reports showed strong support for the strike among workers across the country.

Officials predicted "severe disruption" at places such as the central market in Bury because rubbish will pile up and toilets will not be cleaned.
Some council leaders and mayors will not be able to use official cars because chauffeurs will join the strike.

Hundreds of people intending to fly from Derry Airport were told to make alternative arrangements because of the strike.

Some pickets were handing out chocolate money to members of the public to show what they thought of their pay offer.

In a separate dispute, members of the Public and Commercial Services Union, including driving test examiners and coastguards will also take industrial action in the next few days.


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