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Labour has said "reckless" behaviour by ministers has helped cause a planned 24-hour strike by public sector workers on Thursday.
Shadow education secretary Andy Burnham said the strikes were a "mistake" and said he supported efforts to make public sector pensions "sustainable"
He said: "On Thursday children should be in school and their parents at work."
But he told MPs this afternoon that the government had "inflamed" the situation by "reckless and provocative handling of this issue".
"The government can't evade its share of the responsibility for the disruption millions of families will suffer," he said.
Hundreds of thousands of public sector workers including teachers and civil servants are expected to take part in a 24-hour strike on Thursday in protest at changes to pension schemes.
The government wants public sector workers to pay more into their pensions, work for longer and accept sums based on their career average earnings rather than their final salary.
Michael Gove said talks between the Treasury and the Trade Unions had made "real progress" and said it was regrettable that the "unnecessary, premature and disruptive" strikes were to take place while the negotiations were still going on.
"This strike, at this time, will not help our schools," the education secretary told the Commons.
David Cameron has said that the strikes are "wrong" and as the coalition's plans secure affordable pensions both now and for the future.
In a speech to the Local Government Association this afternoon the prime minister said that as people were living longer the pension system was in danger of going broke.
"In the 1970s, when a civil servant say retired at sixty, they could expect to claim a pension for around twenty years," he told the audience in Birmingham.
"Today, when they retire at sixty, they can expect to claim a pension for nearly thirty years – about a fifty percent increase on before."
He added: "So to those considering strike action, at a time when discussions are ongoing, I would say to you: these strikes are wrong – for you, for the people you serve, for the good of the country."
Dods Parliamentary Communications Ltd
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