Staffordshire County Council has been carrying out a jobs evaluation of nearly 28,000 contracts under national guidelines.

Unions said they had not agreed to the plans, including pay cuts of 25%.

The council said this was a starting point for negotiations. It has written to every member of staff and will send on views to the cabinet.

Spokesman Jim Savege said: "We have written to every member of staff to say if we implement these proposals, this will be the effect on you.

"So they can then in an informed way give us feedback, which they are doing now.

"What we then do is go back to our cabinet, who are the decision makers on this process in January.

"(We will) say 'this is what staff have said, this is where we've got to in trade union negotiations, this is what you proposed originally. How do you want to proceed on this basis?'."