The big three public sector unions are to ballot more than one million members on strike action over what they claim is a ‘miserly' pay offer. Unison, GMB and T&G are furious over the 2% pay offer and say they will ballot members on industrial action, unless a better offer is made. Unison's head of local government, Heather Wakefield, said: ‘This is no way to treat a group of key workers who hold local communities together, and care for the elderly and vulnerable.' In reply, Brian Baldwin, chair of the Employers' side, warned: ‘If the pay settlement is set too high, councils will be forced into making unpalatable choices between cutting frontline services and laying off staff.'
