CHESHIRE West and Chester Council is to become ‘an island of low pay’ with neighbouring councils and other public-sector bodies attracting its staff, union activists fear.

The claim was made in a letter to the full council by Unison branch secretary Teresa Connally.

She pointed out the Conservative-controlled Cheshire County Council, which had employed most of the new council’s staff, had regarded them as its most valuable asset.

“Things seem to have changed considerably,” she said.

The budget for 2012/13, now agreed by the council, cuts terms and conditions to the tune of £4m a year, most of which will come from the lowest paid front-line workers, Unison believes.

Most staff who have signed up to new contracts, due to come into force in April, did so due to fear of losing their job it claims.

Nearly 1,000 staff supported industrial action.

When the trade unions were approached last December, the council said it was concerned about the ‘plummeting staff morale’ Unison states.

‘Entirely reasonable’ proposals were put forward by the trade unions, largely agreed by Cheshire East Council, but were not accepted.

Arguing the council is to become ‘an island of low pay’, Unison says its terms and conditions do not compare to those of other nearby councils and services.

Council cleaners start on £6.30 an hour, compared to £7.41 at Chester University, £7.40 in the police and £7.20 in further education.

At the same time the council is paying out ‘massively’ for agency child protection social workers.

The union believes staff will not have a problem finding jobs in any adjoining authorities.

Labour resources shadow Cllr Julia Tickridge argues £6.30 is only ‘marginally more’ than the minimum wage.

The council point outs 97% of staff have accepted the new terms.

It says when staff from the four previous councils transferred across to Cheshire West and Chester on their existing terms and conditions, this led to inequalities within the workforce.

Savings of £3.9m will be ploughed back into front-line services.

Council leader Cllr Mike Jones (Con) dismisses suggestions about morale and says they are ‘wrong’ and the changes will remove ‘massively over-generous terms’.

He has said the ‘huge majority’ of staff recognise the difficult economic situation.