WIGAN Council office workers say they have been sent notices offering them the choice of working longer hours, taking a pay cut or being sacked.

The 3,500 Wigan Metro staff at the centre of a bitter dispute have until February 9 to sign up to new working conditions or face redundancy.

In a letter from the council's director of personnel, Linda Marsh, staff have been told if they do not write to agree to the change " . . . I will write to you during the week commencing 19 February 2001 with a formal notice to terminate your contract of employment with the council".

The change in working hours means office staff will have to work an extra 45 minutes a week on their 36 hour working week -- a position which the unions have said is unacceptable.

Unions say the notices come only days after the joint trade union group wrote to leader of the council Lord Smith of Leigh offering to enter talks without any preconditions.

Lord Smith had replied that he was "delighted" with the positive response of the unions and would ask for a formal meeting as "quickly as possible".

Secretary of the Wigan Unison Branch Wendy Jackson said: "It is a betrayal that just when we have arranged to re-enter talks to reach an amicable solution, the council chooses to wave the big stick to scare our members into accepting this change under threat of the sack."

Unison have arranged for a ballot forms to be sent out from February 1 to take industrial action against the council's latest move. Ms Jackson added: "Our members are fed up with being pushed around. I am confident our members are so angry at this threat they will take action against the council." Unison has now arranged a mass meeting to be held at The Marquee in Robin Park in Wigan on January 25 at 7.30pm, to tell them in full about the position.

Cllr Brian Baldwin, Cabinet member for human resources, admitted that the letters had gone out but said the council was still open to negotiation with unions. The authority wants to give the same working conditions to all council employees. The union demands would cost £2 million to implement compensation. We want to protect jobs and services. We are under legal obligatioin to send out these letters. We want to be fair and up front."