MORE than 400,000 refuse, housing and care staff, employed by councils across Britain, are to ballot for strike action over pay.

Members of unions Unison and Unite employed in England, Wales and Northern Ireland have rejected a pay offer of £1,290 flat rate or 2.5 per cent, whichever is higher.

Members of general union GMB have accepted the deal.

Unite members voted 85 per cent against doing so and are balloting for industrial action began on Friday.

The union said council workers are surviving on “poverty pay” after years of real-terms pay cuts, which have reduced the value of their wages by more than a quarter.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members undertake vital front-line roles that ensure that local communities are well maintained, safe and attractive places to live. They have drawn a line in the sand and will not accept any further erosion of their pay.” 

And national officer Clare Keogh said: “Council leaders need to wake up and be aware they are facing an autumn of strikes unless local government employers return to the negotiating table and propose a vastly improved pay offer.

“Our members are heavily invested in the communities where they live and work. But more than a decade of real-terms pay cuts mean that many are being forced to vote with their feet and seek employment elsewhere, as council pay has become so low that they can’t pay their bills.”

Unison has 360,000 local authority members and balloting begins next week, September 4.