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600,000 local government workers balloted for strike action

Vote comes after 70% of Unison members reject below-inflation pay rise

Public-service union Unison announced yesterday it will ballot 600,000 local government workers on strike action.

It follows a consultative ballot in which 70 per cent of members rejected a derisory 1 per cent increase for most workers — a real-terms pay cut.

Workers involved include teaching assistants and other school staff, planners, administrators, social workers and engineers.

Unison says that since coalition took power, local authority workers’ pay has fallen by a fifth.

Unison local government head Heather Wakefield said: “Our members have made it clear that this pay offer is the straw that breaks the camel’s back after years of pay freezes and below-inflation rises.

“Local government workers have kept services running in our communities in the face of the government’s harsh austerity agenda and they deserve more than just a bare-minimum pay increase.”

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