SCHOOL dinner ladies and kitchen staff are angry that they are set to be docked wages because of the recent snow.

Now they want talks to prevent a repeat of the situation.

More than 100 Kirklees schools were closed last week after snow made it difficult for teachers and pupils to get to lessons.

The kitchen workers - like teachers and other staff - were told to go home and wait for the thaw.

But when they returned the next day they were told Kirklees Council would not pay them for that day.

One outraged kitchen worker - who asked not to be named, for fear of reprisals from council bosses - said the way the staff had been treated was disgusting.

The mother-of-two said: "The school was shut and there was absolutely no work that we could have done. It made sense to send us all home.

"I have two children who would have had no-one to look after them if I had been forced to stay anyway.

"Then the next day when I got to work I was told I would not get paid.

"I could not believe it.

"I complained and was told I would have to write to Kirklees to explain why I was not at work.

"They are saying I should have gone to a school that was open and helped them.

"That is stupid. I could have been driving around in the snow all day looking for a school that was open."

The Unison union's Jean Goodison, senior steward for catering services, wants Kirklees to reconsider the policy for kitchen staff.

"In North Yorkshire they have three days put aside a year for days disrupted by snow. Maybe the council should consider that," she said.

"The union has asked the council department that deals with this, the Direct Services Organisation, to consider whether people should get paid for that day.

"If they decide against it we will have to consider our next step."

A Kirklees spokesman said: "The catering service follows council policy as regards attendance at work during adverse weather. The policy states that it is our job to meet the needs of our customers.

"The service communicates instructions to its staff in October or November every year, so staff are fully aware of what is required of them. In essence, staff are required to attend their own place of work or the nearest school which is open."