The BBC reports that council workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland will strike in October in an on-going row with the government.
Unison, Unite and GMB, which between them represent more than a million local government workers, said they had decided to “escalate” the pay dispute. They say workers have taken a 20 per cent real-terms pay cut since 2010. The strike will take place on 14 October. A spokesman for the Local Government Association (LGA) called on union leaders to accept the pay offer.
The LGA has said the offer would increase the pay of most employees by 1%, while those on the lowest salaries would receive increases of between 1.25 per cent and 4.66 per cent.