Teachers will be joining train drivers, civil servants, lecturers, bus drivers and security guards on the picket lines on Wednesday (Picture: Shutterstock)

A strike by up to half-a-million workers this week should send a clear message to ministers that they ‘cannot ignore the demand for fair pay’, according to the head of the TUC.

Teachers, train drivers, civil servants, university lecturers, bus drivers and security guards from seven unions walk out on Wednesday – the biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade.

Protests will also be held across the country against plans for a new law on minimum service levels during strikes. Unions said it could lead to workers who vote legally to strike being sacked.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak accused the government of being ‘tone deaf’ to the issues that matter. He said: ‘I joined physiotherapists on a picket line last week. It was the first time they had been on strike and they were loath to take industrial action, but they received huge support from members of the public.

‘I think the government has been taken by surprise at the level of public support for the strikes, because the issues cut across political boundaries.’

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak has accused the government of being ‘tone deaf’ (Picture: PA)

Mr Nowak said prime minister Rishi Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt ‘had to get involved’ in trying to resolve the long running disputes in the health service, education, civil service and other parts of the public sector.

The National Education Union has announced seven days of strikes in England and Wales in February and March, with Wednesday’s walkout likely to affect 23,000 schools. Thousands of people are expected to join a march through central London to Westminster for a rally.

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The biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade.