When they interviewed some of the public, asking for their opinions, most of them said they thought it was a good idea, because we're all in tough times and we all need to contribute to getting out of them.

Most people I know here in the US have already had pay cuts, and/or lost benefits due to the recession, but have accepted these cuts in the name of helping to keep their companies alive. Their level of tolerance for "public sector"workers striking to protest wage cuts is going to be extremely low. I assume "public sector workers" refers to government employees. In this country, we still view them as being paid by tax revenues collected from the citizenry, and so, public servants. Certainly no better than the rest of us who have lost pay or even our jobs.