Fears grow of strikes by council staff

Public sector union Unison announced it will ballot 10,000 of its members at Tory-controlled Birmingham City Council over attacks on workers’ pay and conditions while Unite attacked the authority for “planning” to export 100 computer jobs to India.

Employees have already been recruited to shadow staff in Birmingham, without any consultation, it said. The affected jobs are in a joint venture with Capita.

Unite national officer Peter Allenson said: “It beggars belief that council workers will be forced to train workers from overseas to do their jobs so Capita and Birmingham Council can lift and shift them abroad. This is a betrayal of the people of Birmingham and the loyal staff who serve this city.”

The council has come under fire for plans to cut £300 million from the city budget by 2015, and axe more than 7,000 jobs by 2015 - over a third of the workforce.

Unison also warned that a separate dispute at Southampton City Council could end up costing the authority millions of pounds.

Deputy general secretary Keith Sonnett accused the council, which is also Tory-led, of refusing to enter into talks over a 4.5 per cent pay cut and of proposing a three-year pay freeze and loss of annual pay progression.