A HANDFUL of councils will heed trade unionists’ call to give the cash gained from unpaid wages during yesterday’s strike action to foodbanks and other groups providing relief for the victims of austerity.

Yorkshire and North Derbyshire regional GMB secretary Tim Roache said that his members had sacrificed a day’s wages to demonstrate the value of their work and service.

He called on councils not to absorb this into their coffers but instead to support local food banks or other community groups tackling poverty.

York Council leader James Alexander said: “We in York agree in principle to use unpaid wages for those taking action towards health and social care as well as support the work of food banks in our area. 

“We recognise it is a scandal that in one of the richest countries in the world more and more people require charity just to feed their families.”