TOWN Hall staff, who are members of Unison, are urging councillors and MPs to support their national pay claim for local government workers.

The claim is for four per cent plus £200 pay rise with a £6.04 per hour minimum wage. It also includes improvements in holidays, training and maternity provision to bring Unison staff in line with other public sector workers.

Bury branch secretary Steve Morton said: "Our members are still being asked to do more and more for less and less. We want to improve public services in line with Unison and Government policies.

"Vulnerable people in our community deserve the best possible treatment and all our residents want the clean, safe environment our members provide.

"But local government pay has fallen behind other groups in the public and private sectors since the 1980s. Our members have been squeezed dry and people looking for jobs are giving local government the thumbs down."

He added: "Our members are proud to be on the front line when it comes to educating small children and caring for frail and sick people in their own and council homes.

"But over the last 20 years, our job has been made more and more difficult by low pay, cuts in staffing and under-investment in buildings and equipment by central Government.

"We have heard fine words about the need for a well-trained and well-rewarded workforce from Government ministers and employers. Now is the time to deliver on the promise made in 1997 for a fair and equal pay."

Unison has written to local councillors and MPs in support of its claim and is calling on local people who use council services to join them.

Mr Morton continued: "We're all in this together. Without real investment in the people who provide the services, the quality of life for local people will fall dramatically."

This is the first pay claim submitted by Unison since a national strike in 2002.