Thousands of council workers could take strike action over a stalled pay deal.
Unions representing the vast majority of Kirklees Council employees, other than teachers, have vowed to consider industrial action.
They are angry that talks at national level over a pay deal for 1.6m workers have been put off until at least May.
That is some two months after the 2014 pay agreement was set to start.
GMB, UNISON, UNITE, the unions representing 1.6 million local government workers, have met to discuss the National Joint Council claim for 2014-2015 and the employers’ response.
The unions have agreed to look at industrial action after the talks ended without agreement.
A spokesman for the unions said: “We deplore the employers’ failure to make an offer on February 14 and their statement on February 21 that a 1% remit would not be negotiable.
“We reiterate the view expressed by our members last year that 1% for 2014/15 will not be acceptable.
Kirklees Unison spokesman Paul Holmes said there was a lot of bitterness about the way in which the talks had stalled.
“We had three years without any pay rise and then a 1% deal last year which was effectively a 13% pay cut in that period.
“The talks have broken down at national level and the employers say there will be no further talks until May.
“They have been delaying it until they were certain about what provision the Government were making over the new living wage settlement.
“There should be no reason why talks on a pay deal should be delayed”
Brian Strutton, GMB National Secretary for Public Services, said “The unanimous view of the full local government trade union side is very clear.
The idea that one and a half million council workers should have to sacrifice part of a paltry 1% pay pot to meet their employers’ statutory obligation to pay the national minimum wage is unacceptable”.
Unison’s head of local government Heather Wakefield said: “The bottom pay rate in local government used to be 24% higher than the national minimum wage when it was introduced 15 years ago.
“If the 3% rise to the national minimum wage is accepted and local government employers go ahead and announce a 1% pay rise, it would mean workers on the lowest pay scale will be earning a miserly one penny above the minimum wage.
“It is shameful if local government pay should be determined by the least the employers can get away with.”
Click here to take you back to more Huddersfield news.
To follow us on Twitter click here
