Local government is on the brink of the first national strike since the Winter of Discontent

TGWU leader

Mick Graham, national officer of the GMB union, said: "This is a crisis made in Downing Street.

"If ministers sat down and developed a sensible industrial strategy rather than running around dubbing public service workers as wreckers, this situation could have been avoided.

"The offer is completely unacceptable and effectively means a rise of less than 15p an hour for some of the country's lowest paid workers, at a time when boardroom bosses are awarding themselves telephone number pay increases."

Jack Dromey, national organiser of the Transport and General Workers Union, said: "Local government is on the brink of the first national strike since the Winter of Discontent."

Bargaining might

The workers are the biggest bargaining group in Europe and include cleaners, school meals staff, refuse collectors, social workers, architects and housing benefit employees.

Mr Dromey contrasted the 3% offer with up to 8% offered to NHS support staff earlier this week.

Unions argued that councillors had voted themselves increases of more than 60% in recent months.

They want an increase of �1,750 or 6%, whichever is greater for every worker.

Employers said the claim would add �1,685 million to the wage bill.

Councillor Brian Baldwin, chairman of the employers' side, said no council could afford the "exorbitant" claim and warned that thousands of jobs would be lost if the claim was accepted.