Members of the country's biggest public sector union today backed calls for a strike ballot over changes to pensions.
Unison said a majority of its 850,000 local government members, who took part in a consultative ballot, supported a full vote for industrial action.
The union's leaders will now meet on Thursday to decide their next step, which could lead to a national strike. Workers are angry at controversial plans to increase their retirement age and change their pension scheme due to come into force in April.
The ballot covered workers in England and Wales, but the dispute could spread to Scotland at a later date, Unison said later.
General secretary, Dave Prentis, said: "Despite strong union opposition, the government is intent on pushing through these changes a year early for local government workers.
"This is not a fight we can afford to give up when the average pension for a local government worker is just £3,800 a year. If the government won't listen then we have no option but to call for strike action.
"There is a direct link between low pensions and an early death. Statistics show that local government workers are twice as likely to die between the ages of 60 and 64 than someone working in IT or financial services," he said.
Changes to the local government pension scheme, which come into force a year ahead of other public sector schemes, increases the retirement age to 65. Local government workers now faced pension cuts of up to 30% if they retired at 60, said Unison.
The changes included a move to an average pay scheme rather than a final salary one resulting in a "significantly" smaller pension, while employees would pay more. The pension would be calculated on the base of an employee's average salary over their career rather than the salary immediately before they retire.
Other unions have also been considering what action to take. The T&G is consulting its members on a full ballot for industrial action.
But the GMB has ruled out industrial action, it emerged today.
The union, which has around 250,000 council members, announced it will only undertake a concerted course of campaigning over further changes to the local government scheme being proposed by 2008.
The GMB public services national secretary, Brian Strutton, said a consultation exercise with members concluded that the end of the 85 year rule - which combines service years with age to allow for earlier retirement - and the rise in the pension age was not sufficient to motivate members to take industrial action.
However, the union did not rule out at this point taking strike action over the more comprehensive pension overhaul for council workers currently out for consultation, and due to come into force in 2008, he warned.
"The feedback I had today was that GMB members are not currently prepared to take industrial action over the imminent changes in the local government pension scheme", he said. "They are more concerned about the long-term changes [proposed], but we have just started consultation on these."
Public sector union members are to hold a day of protest against the pension changes on February 18.
