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MORE than 300 town hall staff facing wage cuts are already earning less than £15,000, the Lancashire Telegraph has discovered.

And more than half of the 1,266 'losers' will have their salaries cut by more than 10 per cent.

Information released under the Freedom of Information Act after questions lodged by the Telegraph showed the true extent of the controversial job evaluation process at Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council.

Council chief executive Graham Burgess said there was a higher proportion of winners than losers amongst lower-paid workers.

But Ros Shepherd, of the Transport and General Workers Union said it was "unacceptable" for any low earners to have their wages cut.

And the leader of the opposition party on the council branded the policy "outrageous and heartless".

The changes, which are aimed at addressing historic imbalances in pay between men and women doing similar level jobs, have caused an outcry among council staff.

All three unions in the town hall have voted to reject the settlement, which would make 4,356 workers better off, and are pressing for strike action.

And staff have been sent 'redundancy' notes, giving them a 90-day deadline to accept their new contract or face the sack.

The information released to the Lancashire Telegraph shows: * 309 people earning less than £15,000 are facing wage cuts.

* 646 people will have their wages cut by more than 10 per cent.

* 84 per cent of a single department, financial services, face reductions * Children's services includes the highest single number of people losing out, 238.

* 1,100 of the 1,266 people facing cuts earn less than £30,000.

* The most pay rises are found in the social services department, where 412 people, or 50 per cent of staff, are having their salaries increased.

The government has told each council across the country to implement a job evaluation scheme. Blackburn with Darwen is one of the first to agree the new wage scale, which was agreed at a budget council meeting this month.

Each council is in charge of drawing up its own structure, by interviewing staff and negotiating with unions.

Critics claim the lower-paid staff are being hit particularly hard. And the data released shows 309 people earning less than £15,000 face cuts, and 698 of the losers' - more than half of the total - earn less than £20,000. Almost all of the 1,266 facing cuts earn less than £30,000 a year.

Losses of up to £17,000 have been reported by some individuals with some low-paid street cleaners reporting cuts of £3,000 to their salaries.

This week Unison members are writing to their local MP protesting against the changes.

Representatives have drafted a scathing letter claiming there has been a "clear lack of transparency" in the process. It says the council has "manipulated" the job evaluation information - and that the pay line, the benchmark against which salaries are set, is so low there is a "disproportionate detrimental impact on staff".

And members are to be polled this week on whether they would be prepared to go on strike.

Unison branch secretary Katherine Johnson said: "Because of membership numbers, and statistics surrounding winners and losers, we need to make sure there would be sufficient numbers.

"We do not think the process has been applied properly. We knew there would be some losers, but it should have been a lower percentage."

Meanwhile Ms Shepherd, of the TGW, said she was waiting for regional approval to ballot for industrial action.

And she said: "We don't think there should be any losers. It is unacceptable for any low earners to be losing out."

The third-largest union in the town hall, the GMB, is also balloting for strike action.

Kate Hollern, leader of the council's opposition Labour group, said there were even more "losers" than revealed by the council's figures, because some staff were being told to work more hours.

And she claimed some staff classed as staying the same' were actually losing out as they would face less opportunity for promotion.

Labour has put forward alternative proposals to phase in wage reductions by 25 per cent every year over a five-year period.

Coun Hollern said the plans were "robust" and had been approved by the council's head of finance.

She said: "We put it forward because we thought there were some serious flaws in the system, and a five-year period would give us time to address those."

She added: "The whole process has been outrageous, heartless and the way it's been implemented is totally unnecessary."

But council leader Colin Rigby said: "What they have proposed is not an acceptable, practical budget and it's not economic.

"They are saying they would raise the pay line but that would put an extra £6 million on the bill. Are we expected to put up council tax by 15 per cent to cover it? You can't juggle the figures like that and still provide for the borough.

"We had no choice about this. We are still working to try and alleviate it, but it's extremely difficult."

Mr Burgess said more than 80 per cent of staff had already signed up to their new contract.

He said: "A disproportionate number of low-paid workers are in the winners category and there is a higher proportion of losers in the middle to high-paid category.

"The job evaluation framework, as agreed by the unions, takes account of the type of work not the level of pay."

The council would be illegally discriminating by offering more protection to people losing out, he added.

Lancashire County Council is further behind in the process of setting a new wage scale for its staff. Bosses have set aside millions of pounds and insist they are still aiming to implement the scheme in April 2009, although this is thought to be unlikely.

Other councils in East Lancashire, including Burnley and Ribble Valley, have already implemented new scales.

The effect is less acute in smaller councils, however, because they don't employ social services staff who are among the biggest winners from the changes.

10:51pm Wednesday 26th March 2008

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