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The last three months of walk-outs by bin men, social workers and social care staff over pay cuts of up to 5% have yet to result in a deal which will keep both staff and council managers happy.

The council has got to save £75m over the next four years. The pay cuts contribute towards this and will save 400 jobs, according to council leader Royston Smith.

However, it has been three months since the dispute started and I fear that momentum may be falling away from those wanting to protect their current pay rate.

The reality is that Smith's actions appear to have a reasonable degree of public support. A quick look at the comments this story receives on the local newspaper's website show much distain for those on strike. And why wouldn't the public support him? They get to keep much of their council services, without having to shoulder the big rise in tax or charges, which would surely be necessary to cover the budget gap if pay was not cut.

So the public keep their services, taxes stay low and 400 people, who would otherwise be out of job, get to remain in employment. It seems like an ideal scenario.

Don't get me wrong, if I was facing a pay cut of around 4% while inflation ran at 5% I'd probably be thinking about striking too, but in the political arena Smith's logic seems pretty rock solid.

With that in mind it's difficult to see much prospect for a full scale reversal of the pay-cuts.

However, why aren't the unions trying to leverage their members' loyalty to the council? They could, I assume, go on striking for some time yet as long as negotiations are making little headway, something which isn't in the interests of the council, public or staff.

But if they agreed to take the hit their loyalty may have a financial value to the council.

What I haven't heard suggested is a clause in an agreement, which accepts the pay cuts, which would commit the council to restore pay levels as a matter of first priority when budgets increase, which surely must happen at some point in the future (although the prospect of a double-dip recession would seem to push this further down the calendar). I would also argue those staff who stuck with the council through that period should get an increase in their pay at the same time, to at least make up for inflation.

This sort of loyalty bonus, or share holding type scheme, which sees staff rewarded in good times for taking a pay cut in the bad times would be fairer and more equitable than a straight cut. I suspect many people's biggest fear is that any wage cut will never be reversed.

It would also send the message that council management really do value their staff. That is powerful message to send and one which might just diffuse the dispute.

Let me know what you think in the comments below.

Here at Community Care towers we've been aware that social workers have been seeing their salaries squeezed left right and centre for some time.

Inflation is currently running at 5% but many social workers will be lucky to retain their current salary level, let alone receive a cost of living increase to match inflation. In some pockets of the country people are even being asked to take pay cuts.

We're trying to quantify how this is impacting on social workers. So, if you're a social worker (remember that's a protected title) please take ten minutes to complete our survey and let us know how you're doing.

Click here to take our recession survey

When you've done that you can enjoy this cheery song for the times.

Social workers and social care workers at Shropshire council will begin to receive ballot papers from tomorrow on whether to call a strike over plans to cut pay by up to 5.4%.

If the strike action goes ahead they would be the second set of council social care staff to strike following weeks of action at Southampton council.

The council has not come forward with any alternatives to its pay cuts of up to 5.4% since it was informed of the union's intention to ballot members last week, according to Unison.

The ballot closes on 8 September.

European Public Service Union's general secretary Jan Willem Goudriaan (I don't know who he is either, but he sounds like a big cheese in these matters) has added his voice to those calling on Plymouth council to re-recognise its social workers' union.

Unison was stripped of recognition by the council because it ignored a vote of its members to agree to new terms and conditions, the council leadership said.

Now Goudriaan has lashed out saying the move violates European agreements.

Home care workers in Bristol are to take to the streets on 3 September to protest about privatisation of their jobs.

The council plans to move all its home care provision into the private sector, which is hardly unusual, councils have been doing it for years. However, against a backdrop of widespread budget cuts, job instability and decreasing living standards, home care workers are understandably annoyed.

Unite say the changes will affect over 1,000 people's care.

Only 1,000 of 6,500 workers at Shropshire council have signed up to a new pay deal which cuts pay by up to 5.4%, the Shropshire Star reports.

Unfortunately a breakdown of how many social workers or social care workers are within that number is not available.

Unions in the region said the result was a "disappointment" for the council. However, the council's corporate head of organisational development, Jackie Kelly, said: "We expect plenty more to do so throughout September when the summer holidays are over."

It looks like they are not much closer to seeing eye-to-eye and avoiding strike action.

An interesting addendum to yesterday's news about Plymouth council stripping the local Unison branch of its official recognition has been brought to my attention today.

Stripping the union of recognition means that social workers representatives from Unison will no longer have the right to advance notice of changes to contracts or pay.

But today a Facebook campaign has sprung up to get the union recognised by the council again. At the moment it's still in its infancy with only 336 members but it'll be interesting to see if it has a tangible effect on the council's thinking if it gets more traction.

Social workers at North East Lincolnshire council seem to be the next group in a growing number of council staff set to go on strike.

Yesterday, the local Unison branch put out a statement saying it will reject the council's revised offer on changes to workers terms and conditions.

Social workers at Southampton council have already gone on strike over pay cuts, their compatriots in Shropshire may be set to walk out over cuts to pay and yesterday social workers in all of Northern Ireland look set to gear up for mass walk outs along with other staff in health and education.

North Lincolnshire still has a number of hoops to jump through before it even reaches the point of balloting members but given the general mood and the way other negotiations have gone a peaceful resolution looks a way off.

It's looks like it's going to be a turbulent autumn.

Image by kozumel on Flickr

There seems to be a magic number floating around when it comes to justifying changes to council social workers terms and conditions - 400.

Apparently wherever a council is changing people's pay or leave entitlements it will always save the council around 400 jobs.

That's how many jobs Southampton council are saving with their much disputed pay cuts. It's also the number of jobs which will be saved by changes in Plymouth.

Shropshire, to its credit, has been a bit more creative. Its cuts will save over 400 jobs, a figure which is probably shorthand for between 400 and 410.

It all seems a bit too convenient to me. Are councils doing their sums right? Just to make sure, the video below contains some basic instructions.

Southampton council will bit hit by a second wave of strikes from social workers, angry at pay cuts of around 5%, tomorrow as talks remain deadlocked.

Unions and the council have not made any progress since social workers staged a one day walk out last week. Although the local paper reports a deal may have been brokered in preparation for tomorrow's mass meeting of union members, when I spoke to union officials earlier today they were downbeat on the prospect of a deal. However, they may have just been doing that so as not to be pressured to reveal any details ad both parties have agreed to keep talks confidential.

Though I dare say accusations by the council leader that strikers are only walking out because they are on full pay from the unions, are doing little to smooth over the situation.

However, the local paper also reports today that an employment tribunal hearing over the mass dismissal and reemployment of staff has been postponed at the council's request, so maybe there is progress.

A meeting of all union members is scheduled for tomorrow to discuss further action.

In case you missed it here's our podcast on last weeks strikes.