Unions call for national day of action over cuts

Calls for strikes and other forms of industrial action will dominate the Trades Union Congress when it convenes in September, the preliminary agenda reveals.

Public sector unions will continue their protests against the Government's spending cuts, with proposed pension reductions again expected to provoke the most vociferous reactions.

Among the motions is one by the Communication Workers Union (CWU) which wants a national day of action in response to what it describes as "the biggest attack upon living standards in this country since the 1920s".

Labour will also face criticism with the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) deriding the party's defence of public sector pensions as "pathetic". Ed Miliband will be the only outside speaker to address the TUC this year. The event starts in London on 12 September and lasts for three days.

Union leaders are expected to use the meeting as a platform to argue for an "autumn of discontent" in order to put pressure on the Government to drop many of its austerity plans.