Strike action over council pension changes could be one step closer following the results of a consultative ballot expected later today from Unison.
The public sector union's 500 branches have spent several weeks testing the mood for strike action amongst local government members over changes to their pension scheme due to come into force this April, one year ahead of the rest of the public sector.
The changes will mean that staff still under the age of 60 by 2013 will see their pension benefits reduced by around 30%, the union claimed.
Favourable feedback from branches across England and Wales will pave the way for a formal ballot for industrial action, likely to be announced by the end of this week.
Consultative ballots are carried out by unions to determine whether a formal and costly strike ballot should be undertaken.
A Unison spokeswoman said: "We will see what the consultative ballot indicates. If there is a strong vote in favour it is likely a decision will be made later this week on whether to go forward with an industrial action ballot."
One of the other two local government unions, the T&G, is also consulting members on a full ballot for industrial action.
A T&G spokeswoman said a decision would be made "in the near future".
"The feedback we are getting is that members are very angry about the proposed changes. We are not ruling out a full industrial action ballot at this stage," she said.
The third, the GMB, is meeting with senior organisers later today to discuss the mood of its members before working out a plan of action.
Public sector unions have already agreed on a campaigning day to protest at pension changes, scheduled for February 18.
