Union leaders threatened to double during the strike

the Government has delivered a double threat to public sector union bosses ahead of a mass strike planned for next Wednesday, which is expected to cause major disruption.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has warned the deal on the table over pension reform could be withdrawn if the walkout goes ahead.
Mr Alexander, who is leading the negotiations with the unions, insisted the Government's offer was "good and generous" and warned the strike will make an agreement more difficult.
Cabinet Office Minister Francis Maude has suggested laws over balloting members could be reformed, making it harder to take strike action. He called the walkout "stupid and wrong".
Wednesday's action, which involves 33 unions, could see around two million people in total stay away from work including 18,000 immigration officials.
Sky News sources said the military has been asked to prepare to man Britain's borders because of the strike, with civil servants also warned they may need to help out.

Danny Alexander wants union chiefs to accept the Government's deal

The Government has warned the 24-hour walkout next week could cost the already fragile economy £500m and lead to job losses.
Meanwhile, thousands of NHS operations and appointments are being cancelled and rescheduled as a result of Wednesday's strike, the Government has confirmed.
In England, around 60,000 non-urgent operations, out-patient appointments, tests and follow-up appointments are thought to be postponed.
This is based on the NHS doing 20% less work if around a fifth of staff go on strike.
In Scotland, at least 3,000 operations and thousands more hospital appointments are being rescheduled.
Speaking to The Guardian newspaper, Mr Alexander said the improved offer involves two significant changes - enhanced accrual rates for the new pension schemes and protection from pension changes for anyone within 10 years of retirement.
But he warned: "I reserve the right to take those enhancements off the table if an agreement can't be reached. I don't want to do that.
"I don't want to be in that position. I want to be in a position where we have got an agreement."
He added: "What frustrates me a lot is that we're having these discussions centrally with the TUC and in individual schemes and they're making progress.
"The strike action... is both a distraction to that process and also a risk to it in the sense that, obviously, part of going on strike will harden opinions on the union side and might make it harder for them to sell a deal to their members when, in fact, I think we've got the basis of an agreement that is a pretty good deal for both sides."
He went on: "I believe that many unions I talk to are serious and sincere about their desire to reach an agreement, but they are obviously going to have to persuade their own members who they've marched up this hill that, in fact, the agreement and the nature of the deal on offer is a good one."

union boss: the government won't talk about pensions

Mr Maude, in an interview with The Daily Telegraph, warned trade union laws could be rewritten to make it more difficult to stage industrial action in future unless it had overwhelming backing from union members.
"If very disruptive strike action is carried out on the basis of these weak ballots, weak turnouts, the case for reform gets stronger," he said.
He suggested stopping unions from striking after ballots with low turnouts or a rule forcing action to be taken within a certain time after a poll could be considered.
Public and Commercial Services union general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "The latest threats about further curbs on strike laws and offers being withdrawn follow ridiculous claims earlier this week that the strike could cost £500m and put jobs at risk.
"This just shows how little grip they have on the detailed and very serious issues at stake for millions of public sector workers, and calls into question their competence and suitability for these negotiations."
The strike is also set to cause chaos at Heathrow Airport, where bosses have warned passengers they could face "gridlock" and be forced to wait on planes if terminals are overcrowded.
Airlines have been asked to dramatically cut the number of passengers flying to the UK's busiest airport because of the anticipated problems.
Operator BAA has written to carriers suggesting a 50% reduction in numbers on each international flight arriving into Heathrow on November 30.
Travellers have been warned they could face queues lasting 12 hours and airlines were warned of "mass cancellations" of departing aircraft.
In a letter, BAA's Heathrow chief operating officer Norman Boivin said the operator had "reluctantly concluded" the UK Border Agency would be unable to provide a contingency plan to cope with the walkout.
On Thursday, Prime Minister David Cameron condemned the planned industrial action and said there should be no doubt in voters' minds the fault lies with union bosses.

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