SCHOOLS, libraries and day care centres were closed and some hospital and council departments were left short staffed as union members across the borough refused to turn up for work and manned picket lines instead.

It follows a long-running dispute over public sector pensions, with the government demanding they work longer, pay more and get less when they retire.

About 60 staff at Ealing Hospital, made up of cleaners, admin, and some nurses held up banners and made their views known on today.

Mel Whitter, regional women's officer for the union Unite, said: "We've been getting a lot of support from motorists driving past on the Uxbridge Road, people beeping and shouting. Despite what the politicians say there's a lot of public support.

"It's unacceptable what the government are trying to do to public sector pensions. It's an absolute myth that they're gold-plated and this will be an extra tax on hard working people."

An Ealing Hospital spokesman said: "In the main the hospital is working as normal. We have worked with the unions to ensure safe levels of service are maintained.

Ealing council said 63 schools shut, 13 were partially closed and just five schools stayed open.

Nick Grant, Ealing secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said the action was unprecedented as it was the first time the headteachers union the, NAHT, had gone on national strike in its history.

Unions taking the joint action say their members' pensions are affordable and the changes are unnecessary.

Mr Grant said £46.4 billion more had been paid into the teachers' pension scheme than taken out since its creation in 1923.

Ealing Council, where about 500 of its 3,000 staff walked out, said essential services were maintained.

Although the Cowgate and Carlton Road day centres, which support severely disabled people, were shut. Of the borough's 13 libraries, only Jubilee Gardens in Southall remained open.

And there were long delays at the short-staffed customer service centre in Perceval House, Ealing Broadway which was picketed before a rally on the town hall steps.

About 60 union members held banners and placards aloft crying "workers united will never be defeated" and other chants.

Even workers at RAF Northolt went on strike. About 60 post office workers who send mail overseas and 12 civilian security guards walked out.

Bob Rollings, of the PCS union said: "It's the unfairness of it all. You can see from the Hutton report and other reports the pensions these people expect and have paid for throughout their careers are affordable.

"This pensions robbery is not acceptable."

Later many campaigners joined the national march in central London from Lincoln Inn Fields to parliament.

The government have made concessions since the last strike in June, including ensuring those within 10 years of retirement will be unaffected.

Unions say these do not go far enough.

But Angie Bray, MP for Ealing Central and Acton, described the concessions as generous and said there was a vital need for reform.

She said: "We're doing this because there's no alternative. The pension pot is not absolutely dry now but it will be within years. If we don't do something now we'll be passing on the problem to the younger generation."