A national strike by local council workers has been averted, after a pay deal worth 7.8 per cent was agreed last night.

Members of the TGWU, Unison and GMB unions had originally been offered a three per cent annual increase, however a national walk-out last month with another scheduled for later in August prompted local authority employers to improve their offer.

The Acas proposals include the setting up of an independently chaired Local Government Pay Commission to address issues of low pay and equal pay for men and women workers in local government which will report back within one year.

Forum Response: GMB

Mick Graham, national secretary for public services at GMB, told ePolitix.com: ""The GMB will be recommending the Acas proposals to its members as it represent a fair deal for local government employees and a strong platform to end low pay and unequal pay. The lowest paid workers, who are predominantly women and many of whom work part time, could be earning £5.32 by April 2003, a significant rise of 52 pence.

"The GMB has fought long and hard in these negotiations to have the contribution of local government workers valued and recognised. I believe that these proposals begin to reflect the hard work and dedication of classroom assistants, dinner ladies, care assistants and many others who give tirelessly in our communities every day.

"Public attention has been tremendous during this dispute and the GMB would like to thanks all those that have supported us during this dispute and in our battle to achieve justice for local government workers."

Forum Response: Unison

Heather Wakefield, national secretary for local government at Unison, told ePolitix.com: "The unions would like to thank the public for their overwhelming support. There is now strong public recognition of the need to tackle the issue of low pay in local government.

"This Commission represents a real opportunity to address the long term decline in local government pay and will begin to redress the neglect of the local government workforce."