Local
authority employees in the GMB union have voted 2-1 to accept a three-year 8.9
per cent pay offer.
The
deal also provides for new pay and grading structures worth another 4.5 per
cent, which will deliver equal pay throughout councils in England, Wales and
Northern Ireland within three years.
GMB
national secretary Brian Strutton said: "GMB members do not believe that
the basic pay offer of 8.9 per cent over three years properly recognises the
value of front-line service providers, but they have taken the pragmatic view
that this is the best that can be achieved.
"The
real culprit is the chronic underfunding of local government which keeps wages
at poverty levels."
