They spoke out after a mass meeting of union members on Wednesday – representing everybody from classroom assistants to highways engineers – voted overwhelmingly to ballot for industrial action over the controversial Job Evaluation offers.

Town hall chiefs say that four out of five of the 9,000 staff affected by the review will not lose pay under the efficiency proposals, which are also designed to iron out inequalities and sex discrimination.

But union Unison says that the majority of staff do face major cuts to their salaries because of the end of weekend and long-service allowances.

David Smith, executive director of Business Support Services, said the council had consulted the workforce on a package of proposals that would see the authority introduce equal pay for jobs of equal value.

Five meetings have also been held between unions and management to discuss the proposals since the consultation process, which began in March and ran until the middle of last month.

But Mr Smith warned the unions today: "The council believes the final package is the best that can be offered.

"The council very much hopes to seek voluntary acceptance of the new terms and conditions that will see most members of staff receive an increase in pay, or remain the same.

"We understand the concerns of council staff and we will continue to offer all the help and support we can.
"We hope industrial action can be avoided."

The new contractual arrangements includes two years' pay protection, a voluntary severance scheme or internal recruitment process for employees facing a reduction in pay of more than 10%, along with more flexible working arrangements.

They calculate that 17% of employees will lose pay if they are still in the same job when protection expires in two years' time.
But they hope that by then, after annual pay award and the internal recruitment process, this figure will have reduced to even fewer staff facing a pay cut.

But Unison branch secretary Bob Adams said that staff are so angry because many are now facing other on-going reviews which will see them losing thousands in wages.

Although the JE (single status) programme is taking place nationally, it is being interpreted individually by each council.