Many council services have been hit by the walkout

Staff opted to embark on a day of industrial action amid a continuing dispute over new contracts brought forward under equal pay laws.

The GMB Scotland union claimed the council had forced new contracts on several thousand employees.

However, the local authority said the offer was required to meet the legislation's requirements.

The walkout, also involving members of Unison and T&G, has caused the closure of services including housing and social work offices, libraries, sports centres and community halls.

The council warned that other facilities may be partially closed, although education services have been unaffected.

New contracts

Falkirk Council leader David Alexander voiced his fear that the authority had apparently been targeted by the unions for political purposes, despite the fact that it had agreed to all of the pay protections requested.

But local Unison secretary Gray Allan said the conditions had been imposed without union agreement by effectively dismissing workers and employing them under new contracts.

"These new contracts will result in at least 11% of our members facing, after a period of protection, pay cuts," he said.

The local authority, which has added �2.5m a year to the wage budget to meet the costs, said many employees had accepted new employment conditions.

However, the council had to offer new contracts to employees who had not accepted them after it had "exhausted all other options".

Mr Alexander said the offer was better than in other council areas where unions had settled, adding that a failure to deal with pay inequality would ultimately hit council tax payers.

"We have been trying to talk to the unions for some considerable time, but it appears they don't wish to speak to us," he said.