Local government workers today voted to launch their first national strike more than 20 years, raising the prospect of unemptied bins and filthy streets across England and Wales as refuse collectors, carers and school caretakers walk out in protest at a 3% pay offer.
With some 1.2m council staff poised to launch their first one-day protest on July 17, this is the biggest wave of industrial action to have hit Tony Blair's government yet, and the move represents a significant blow to Labour's attempts to improve public services.
The action could cripple council services that range from elderly care and meals on wheels to street cleaning and pest control, echoing the strikes of the infamous 1979 winter of discontent that helped destroy James Callaghan's Labour administration.
Heather Wakefield, national officer at Unison, said: "Our members have voted for industrial action because they are sick of being treated as the poor relations of the public sector. Their case for a realistic pay rise is indisputable."
Union leaders pledged that their action would continue until they got a better pay offer as they unveiled decisive majorities in favour of a strike.
The Transport and General Workers and GMB unions said two-thirds of their members had voted in favour, while the largest town hall union, Unison, had an 80% vote in favour of a strike.
The unions are seeking a pay rise of 6%, or a flat rate £1,750 for the worst paid council workers. That increase has been rejected as unrealistic by council leaders, who say they simply do not have the money to increase their 3% offer.
A spokesman for the local government Employers' Organisation said the 3% was final and would not be raised in the face of industrial action.
He said: "The strike action won't achieve anything. You can put a mark on a ballot paper but it can't conjure up more money."
The services affected by the stoppage will vary from council to council because staff working in privatised services negotiate pay increases directly with their private employers rather than joining the national bargaining process that covers most publicly employed council officers.
Similar strikes by Unison in Scotland two years ago saw tonnes of rubbish piling up on the streets of Midlothian and East Lothian, empty offices in Edinburgh and museums and leisure centres closed across the country.
Today's decision could kick start a summer of industrial strife for the government, with potential flashpoints in the fire service, air traffic control and higher education.
Unison members in London are already involved in their own local government strike over the amount of extra money they should be paid for working in the capital. They want the amount raised to £4,000 at a cost of up to £2,600 per employee.
