1,000 strike over jobs cull
More than 1,000 employees from Ashdown House, Heron House and Castle Job Centre took part in a mass walk out yesterday.
Some 1,600 Hastings jobs are on the line following moves from the Department for Work and Pensions.
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Eddie Fleming, PCS union representative, said from the picket line on Thursday:
"There's a bit of a carnival atmosphere here, but the issues are serious ones - public services and pay.
"We have been put in a position where we have no choice but to take industrial action.
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Hide Ad"We are just ordinary, hard working people trying to do the best we can on really low poverty pay.
"We got a below inflation pay rise - some of the workers are having to claim the same benefits they are dishing out."
The strike was due to continue today.
A skeleton staff has been manning the centres, allowing for a basic service.