PUBLIC sector workers took strike action today in protest at the Government's proposed pension reforms.

The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) said 65 staff from the Jobcentre in Leytonstone joined picketlines to postpone all appointments that day.

However the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) denied this claim, saying that it did not have exact figures bhut that the number of strikers was closer to ten.

A spokesman added that all services were running as usual.

The strikes were in protest at a shake-up which includes raising the retirement age from 60 to 68.

PCS branch secretary George Thompson said a majority of its 230 members in Waltham Forest joined industrial action today.

He added: "This is a wider struggle against austerity as well as the pension cuts.

"The government must listen to people."

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