David Cameron used a visit to Birmingham to launch a last-ditch appeal to public sector workers not to strike on Thursday.
The Prime Minister warned that rising life expectancy and Britain’s huge budget deficit meant that people had to work longer and that councils had to make savings.
But he claimed it was “not responsible” to strike while the Government was still in talks over pension reform - and he insisted he was not looking for a confrontation with the unions, pledgin to continue providing “good pensions” to public sector workers.
Mr Cameron was in Birmingham to speak at the annual conference of the Local Government Association at Birmingham’s ICC.
Members of the National Union of Teachers, the Association of Teachers and Lecturers and the Public and Commercial Services Union are set to strike across the country in protest at reforms to pensions.
Up to 10,000 Birmingham City Council workers will take part in a strike organised by UNISON in protest at changes to their contracts which the union says could cost some workers £380 a month.
Mr Cameron said: “I don’t think it’s reasonable or responsible to go on strike while discussions are still going on, and I think a number of unions recognise that, as it’s only some unions that are going ahead with the strike.
“The main point I make is this - the Government’s aim is not to damage public sector pensions but actually to preserve good public sector pensions into the long term.
“There is a simple fact here, which is that people are living longer. That’s very good news, but as people live longer the cost of pensions increases.
“So you have to reform them in order to keep making sure you have good pensions.
“So we are going to be asking people to work longer. We are going to be asking people to make a greater contribution to their pension.
And in return for that, public sector pensions will continue to be amongst the best in the country.”
The Government’s plans had been drawn up by former Labour MP Lord Hutton and would continue to provide retired staff with a guaranteed pension - known as a defined benefit - he said.
