UNIONS have warned Lancashire County Council staff will ‘vote with their feet’ if their wages are cut by the new Conservative leadership.

They also claim the Tories will be acting illegally if they go ahead with a promise to axe full-time union reps at County Hall and have criticised a planned recruitment freeze.

The Conservatives swept to power for the first time in 28 years earlier this month when they routed Labour in the local elections.

Group leader Geoff Driver has promised to make almost £15million in savings this year to prepare for a council tax freeze in 2010/2011.

But many of these have put him on a collision course with unions, including:

  • Cancelling the secondment of seven Unison staff in a move he says will save £200,000 a year.
  • Delays on filling vacant posts across the council, saving another £200,000.
  • Not filling one in five empty posts across the council, in a move the Tories say will save £250,000 this year and £750,000 in 2010/11.
  • Shaving £3million from the annual wage bill following the controversial equal pay review.
  • Cutting £8million from the reserves set aside for the wage review, cash which would will be used to settle compensation claims and protect the salaries of staff facing cuts.

Carol Lukey, of Unison, which has 12,000 members out of County Hall’s 43,000 staff, said: “Obviously we are concerned and we will be meeting with the new administration.

“It will be less efficient if they don’t have full-time reps because they will have to take time out of their day jobs.

“If we have a lot of staff losing out through job evaluation they will be very disgruntled and will vote with their feet.”

Ms Lukey also slammed the planned recruitment freeze, saying it would hit services and make it harder to recruit vital front-line staff like social workers.

But Coun Driver insisted the “legality and practicality” of his plans had been checked and insisted the union agreement would be terminated within a three-month notice period.

He said this was the first time unions had raised concerns since proposals were aired in February.

He added: “I recognise we are changing the culture of County Hall, but it has to be changed.

“We hope to take the staff along with us and we will consult with them before we make any changes.”

Coun Driver pledged there would be no redundancies, saying some jobs would be filled with existing staff and others left open.