Over 30,000 public-sector workers walk out to protest job changes

For the first time Scottish Parliament staff, from security workers to committee clerks, will also take industrial action, according to the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS).

The 48-hour strike will affect public services, including courts, tax offices and border controls. Across the UK, 270,000 civil and public servants will walk out.

A PCS spokesman said: "The union fears that the government wants to make it easier for whoever wins the general election to cut low-paid civil and public servants on the cheap."

Rallies will take place in Glasgow and Dundee, and there will be picket lines at Edinburgh Castle, museums and galleries, libraries and the Scottish Government.

PCS Scottish secretary Lynn Henderson said: "The civil service compensation scheme affects members working for UK and Scottish Government departments. While our battle is with the UK government, Scottish ministers must also break their silence.

"We stand with workers across the public sector who will not accept job cuts on the cheap whether they come from Gordon Brown, David Cameron or Alex Salmond."

Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: "Those on strike deliver services that touch our everyday lives from the cradle to the grave. Under these imposed changes, they face losing up to a third of their entitlements and tens of thousands of pounds if they are forced out of their job.

"The government is tearing up the contracts of low-paid civil and public servants, while it claims it can do nothing about bankers' bonuses because of contractual obligations. The government needs to recognise that slashing entitlements and cutting jobs on the cheap will damage public services."