COUNCIL workers have backed a rebellion over the controversial bid to end years of inequality in pay between men and women.

In a move that could pave the way for strike action, union members at Blackburn with Darwen Council have voted against wage changes that would see more than 1,000 workers' salaries slashed.

The vote came as it was revealed that 41 per cent of men working for the council were facing pay cuts ranging from nominal amounts to up to £15,000.

Unison, which represents many of the workers, said it was concerned at the number of men facing reductions.

But the union is also unhappy that the workers getting pay increases - mostly women - are not getting the rises backdated for six years.

It has warned the council could face huge legal bills if workers took legal action for backdated pay.

Opposition councillors have branded the changes a "money-saving exercise" after claiming that the council's wage bill would be more than £600,000 less after the changes.

Council leader Colin Rigby played down the significance of the union vote, saying that it had only come from a small proportion of staff.

Out of the council's 2,000 Unison members, 717 to 139 voted to reject the scheme.

The changes follow a review of 5,500 council jobs, and council bosses say 24 per cent of salaries will go down, 46 per cent increase, and the remaining 30 per cent stay the same.

Coun Rigby said Unison's vote only represented 13 per cent of staff, and that he was waiting for the council's own poll of employees, which will be completed on February 8.

He said: "It's not a significant number as far as I am concerned.

"If they don't represent 50 per cent of staff what sort of mandate do they have?

"In my day, if you wanted to strike you needed a decent percentage.

"If not you didn't bother.

"We will do nothing with the unions until February 8, then we will all sit down."

Mike Cain, the regional officer for Unison, the main public services union, warned the council would face "inevitable consequences" if it ignored the vote and relied on its own poll.

He said he could not rule out strike action, but would first try to reach agreement.

Mr Cain said some of the proposed salary changes - notably the 41 per cent of men that are facing cuts - suggested the process "had not been carried out properly".

And he insisted the union would help employees with legal action if the council refused to back-date the salaries of 'winners'.

He said: "It's a resounding vindication of Unison's position. We are looking forward to negotiating with them with a view to resolving our concerns we have outlined to our members, which they obviously share.

"There are disproportionately unfair outcomes for certain sections of the council's staff, as analysed by our specialist statisticians."

Mr Cain said the scale had also been rejected because of concerns about the two separate systems used to evaluate different workers' wages.

The town hall's second largest union, the Transport and General Workers Union, has also rejected the offer.

Asked about the possibility of strike action, branch secretary Ros Shepherd said: "We will have to wait and see.

"We feel there are too many losers and not enough protection."

Labour leader Kate Hollern said the operation had been handled incorrectly and claimed the changes would cut more than £600,000 off the council's wage bill.

She said her party would have protected workers' salaries for three years, and raised the benchmark against which salaries are set.

Coun Hollern said: "There has been a lack of transparency, and to find they are actually making a saving you feel they are conning the union and the workers."

Speaking at a council debate into the plans on Monday night, Lib Dem Kevin Connor, the council's lead member for resources, said: "We didn't know what the impact would be until we went through job evaluation.

"It's a big challenge, because morale is low and it's got to be raised."

Union representatives and council bosses will now sit down to restart the painstaking negotiations.

Council across the region are watching as Blackburn with Darwen becomes the first of its kind in the North West to set up its new pay scale.

Elsewhere, Birmingham City Council staff demonstrated against their settlement in the city centre earlier this month and are set to vote on strike action.

And Staffordshire County Council voted to scrap its planned pay scale and start from scratch after protests.

The government has told each council to set a new pay scale in a bid to end historical differences between workers.