Petition to PM over council pay

Campaigners have set up a petition, which has been signed by a number of Blackburn with Darwen council staff, aimed at getting Gordon Brown to take action.

It claims equal pay deals being put in place are ruining staff morale.

As revealed in the Lancashire Telegraph yesterday, Blackburn with Darwen Council union members have voted to reject their controversial new pay offer that would lead to cuts to more than 1,000 salaries.

The move could pave the way for industrial action, although union and council bosses will first sit down and restart negotiations.

The government has told councils across the country to reassess all their jobs in a bid to end pay inequality between men in women.

Blackburn with Darwen is one of the first councils of its type to set up a new pay scale - but there have already been protests in other parts of the country where staff have lost out.

The petition, on the Downing Street website, has been signed by 1,354 people so far, way beyond the 200 required to trigger a response from the government.

It claims the changes are creating "a distinct social underclass" that will affect at least 200,000 workers nationwide.

Councils - like Blackburn with Darwen - which control all their own services are most affected by the changes, because social services and care staff are among the main winners', meaning other wages must be cut to compensate.

Lancashire County Council is further behind in drawing up its new pay scale, which will affect thousands more employees across the county.

It has been revealed 41 per cent of male staff at Blackburn with Darwen are facing cuts - but one female worker told the Lancashire Telegraph women were also suffering.

The resources worker, who did not want to be named as staff have been told not to speak to the press, said: "Everyone thinks it's just the men, but I barely know any women who are winning from this.

"One girl was at her desk in tears because she had lost a quarter of her salary."