AN East Lancashire council faces a £3million wage hike if it is to avoid legal action by trade unions.

Blackburn with Darwen Council launched a review of wages for the 1,000 different types of jobs it has after councils in the North East were hit by massive compensation rulings last year.

The move was a bid to prevent unions bringing compensation claims -- using the new Equal Pay Act -- which have cost other authorities millions.

Blackburn with Darwen Council now hopes to prevent even the threat of legal action being brought with its review.

It set out to assess whether posts of equal importance were being paid comparable amounts and came with an agreement from unions -- including Unison and the GMB -- that they would not begin any legal action until after it was completed.

Donna Hall, executive director for resources, said: "We have 1,000 different jobs within the council and more than 5,000 employees.

What we have done is interview 173 people at length and then feed their details into a system, which then evaluates how much they should be earning.

"It seems that around a third of jobs will get a pay increase, a third will get less and a third will stay the same, but we estimate overall an increase of £3million on the council's wage bill.

"From our point of view, it is preferable to do it this way, rather than tackle legal cases as they come in, because we would then incur legal fees for the solicitors. That wouldn't be good for us, our employees or the people who use our services."

According to Unison, women in local government earn 66 per cent of that of men.

The council will spend another £150,000 in the coming year on the review before the new pay levels begin in the 2007/08 financial year.

Mike Law-Riding, chairman of the council's corporate resources overview and scrutiny committee, said: "This is something we will be monitoring because the financial implications for the council are massive."

Carol Lukey, from Unison at Lancashire County Council, said: "We did prepare legal action but it has been resolved through negotiation, which is always our preferred option.

"We are pleased with the outcome as it means our members are being paid based on their experience and qualifications, which is how it should be. We have no more claims planned at present."

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