Council workers to vote over possible pay strike

Workers at several councils across England will vote on whether to strike in a dispute over pay.

The ballot will be for about 1,000 members of staff who are part of Unite the Union, mainly involved in housing maintenance work, like plumbing and heating engineering.

Initially the vote will be for those at Durham, Leeds, Stoke-on-Trent, Dudley, Southwark, Newham and Bristol councils - however Unite has said it is possible that more local authorities could follow.

The union has rejected a 3.2% pay offer, a spokesperson said.

According to Unite, it is the largest trade union in the UK and supports workers in public, voluntary and private sectors.

They includes industries like local government, transport, education, retail and policing.

Members of Unite are currently part of ongoing bin strikes in Birmingham which began with a series of one-off strikes in January 2025, followed by all-out action in March.

They voted this month to extend that industrial action into September.