The ads, appearing in national newspapers, show a queue of people filing under a "Town Hall" banner. The strapline reads: "Labour isn't listening".
Blue-collar union GMB is using the parody of the 1979 ad, which showed people in a dole queue, to highlight that fact that council workers are comparatively less well off than workers in 1979. The original ad was created by Saatchi & Saatchi and is often credited as the campaign that brought Margaret Thatcher to power.
Today's strike will see 1.3m local government workers walk out as schools, leisure centres and libraries all face closure.
The creative for the parody version of the ad was done in-house by the GMB, with design work by Tattersall Hammarling & Silk. Media buying is through Sold Out Advertising.
Today's strike has been called in protest at 3% pay offer made by local government to workers. Unions are campaigning for a 6% rise, and a minimum wage of 拢5 an hour for local government workers.
A spokesperson for the GMB said response to the ad had been overwhelming. "People weren't aware that workers such as teachers aides earned so little. The ad campaign has really helped drive that message."
GMB leader John Edmonds has attacked the greed of town hall bosses as the union revealed that council leaders have accepted increases in their personal allowances of as much as 148% while low-paid council workers accept pay rises of just 3%.
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