"Scare tactics" claim over pay dispute

2:58am Monday 7th July 2008

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COUNCILS have been accused of using "scare tactics" to try and persuade staff not to join a two-day strike by hundreds of thousands of local authority workers in a row over pay.

Unison said a number of councils, Stockton Borough Council, had written to employees warning they would lose pay and have their pension service broken because of the walkout on July 16 and 17 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

More than 600,000 teaching assistants, school cleaners and cooks, social workers, librarians, surveyors, refuse collectors, sports centre staff and other employees will go on strike after rejecting a 2.45 per cent pay offer.

Heather Wakefield, Unisons head of local government said: "It's clear that local government employers are now resorting to co-ordinated scare tactics.

"Instead of making threats, councils should be urging the employers to get back round the negotiating table and come up with a better deal to avoid the necessity for strike action and disruption to local services."

Unison is seeking a pay rise of six per cent or 50p an hour, whichever is the greater.

A letter sent to employees of Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council spells out exactly how much money workers will lose over the two days of strike action - ranging from 90 for the lowest paid to more than 300 for higher earners.

A spokesman for the local authority employers said: "This is not a case of intimidation but of ensuring that staff know their rights during a strike and also their responsibilities to the local people who they serve."