Today’s nation-wide public sector strike saw more than 4000 people marching through Cambridge from noon, several hundred of whom were University members.

As part of the wave of protests against the government’s austerity measures, this industrial action was initiated by trade unions to target pension cuts. Participation from the Cambridge university student body was limited, even though CUSU officially supported the strike.

By noon about 300 people had gathered outside of Great St Mary’s Church, some of them having been on the picket lines at Sidgwick, New Museums and Downing sites since 7am.

“The main purpose of picket lines is to educate people about our cause”, explained Julie Watson, postdoctoral fellow at the Gurdon institute in Cambridge, proudly adding that “I’ve also managed to turn one person!”.

Even though University staff are, strictly speaking, not public sector, their pensions are threatened nevertheless. Brendan Burchell, senior lecturer in Psychology and Sociology, explained: “We are on a private scheme that is not government-funded. It has recently been cut back unilaterally, with the university paying less and the employees having to contribute more. Our new scheme is no longer suited for the needs of academics, who need to take leaves and do not accrue when doing their PhD. It’s just another way of giving us a huge pay cut.”

“We are here to support the trade unions”, added Jeff Miley, lecturer in political sociology. “This strike is symbolic in that it makes people show their solidarity. It is unlikely to force any changes as it is for one day only.”

The many students present at the protest were concerned about the future of their education: “If the pensions are cut, even fewer academics will be motivated to become lecturers. They can earn a lot more if they go abroad or work in the private sectors. We need to think long-term, because education is one of our greatest asset”, worried Rosalyn Old, former JCR-president and student of Robinson college.

At 11:45, the group of University affiliates left the city centre to join the trade union assembly on Parker’s Piece where more than 4000 people from a variety of public sector backgrounds – from health through education to civil service – were gathered, with fifteen of the sixteen trade unions which supported the strike represented.

Many professions fear the idea of increasing the retirement age to state pension age, as it was proposed by Lord Hutton in his review. Those who are currently younger than 33 will only be allowed to retire at age 68 – otherwise their pension will be significantly lower, something that has caused much consternation: “Would you like to be taught by a 68-year-old teacher?” askedJohn Stenner, a school teacher from Soham, Cambridgeshire.

The Hutton review proposes to change the current pension schemes for all public sector professions, including local government, NHS, teaching staff and civil service employees. The new schemes would require more contributions from the staff as it tries to lower the overall costs. Higher life expectancy has made pensioners a costly factor for the government. Many details of the proposed changes are still unknown, but it is likely that it will result in people having to work longer in order to receive the same pension as before.

Student reactions to the strike have been mixed, however: despite the number of students present on the protest, some were unimpressed by both the disruption to lectures and the disturbance in the city centre.

“Cambridge is such a bubble – it’s really easy to forget following the news”, Rosie O’Neill, CUSU Welfare and Rights Officer, explained the disinterest of the majority of the student body. “Some might have to meet the last essay deadline of the term, while others think that it’s more important to go to lectures.”

George Lacey, a first year NatSci who describes himself as a “raging Conservative” told Varsity that he found it “really annoying” that the protesters had clogged up the city centre, preventing people from getting to lectures.

Not every student felt the same though, with even those not on the protest supporting the movement: Alexandra Grierson, a Newnham Geographer, said that the protest barely disturbed her lecture, which still went ahead as usual this morning, but that it did feel “a bit quieter”. A great number of lectures across all faculties have been cancelled, resulting in some of them being rescheduled to a date after the official end of term on 1 December.

Reactions from residents of Cambridge not involved in the protest were also mixed, with Danny Matthews, an engineer, telling Varsity that although he sympathised with those on strike, “it won’t make much difference at all to the government, and the only people it’s hurting are those trying to go about their daily business, who are having to arrange alternative childcare and the such like.”

Barnaby Palmer, a student at Hills Road College, had a more positive outlook on the protest, admiring the way it had brought the community together: “there’s been a really good generational spread, and it’s great that there’s been no violence at all”. The general atmosphere at the march was indeed positive, with no violence disrupting the proceedings and negotiations with the police present peaceful and friendly.

The march finished at Parker’s Piece at 2pm, with several speakers from the trade unions, county council and various supporters emphasising their cause.

Steve Sweeney, from Huntingdon and St Neots TUC made publicly commended CUSU’s decision to support the strikes, which was announced this morning. Sweeney declared that “standing together, shoulder to shoulder with students” is important because “their struggle is our struggle”: the emphasis was very much on solidarity, maintaining a peaceful atmosphere and sticking to their cause.