Council pay dispute goes to Acas

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The council pay dispute that has seen hundreds of thousands of local authority workers strike this summer will go to conciliation service Acas, it has emerged.

Up to 600,000 council workers staged a 48-hour walkout in July as part of the long-running protest against the government's 2.45% pay offer.

But the Unison, Unite and GMB unions are now willing to talk to Acas to resolve the dispute, according to the Press Association.

Unions have previously slammed the sub-inflation offer at a time of rising food and fuel prices. But local authority employers have warned of job and service cuts if they had to pay more.

The talks will cover workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Council workers in Scotland are involved in a separate row over pay and are due to strike next Wednesday.