Talks 'breakdown' signals strike as unrest grows

Hundreds of council refuse collectors and street cleaners are to go on strike in a row over pay, in a fresh sign of growing unrest among public sector workers, it was announced today.

Around 600 workers at Liverpool City Council will stage a series of walk outs from Friday following a "complete breakdown" of talks aimed at resolving a dispute over bonus pay.

The GMB union said its members will also ban overtime, work to rule, and launch a rolling programme of strikes.

GMB official David Hulse said the workers had "no choice" but to take industrial action, which will hit Liverpool's public services.

The Government has already been warned it faces an autumn of discontent by tens of thousands of workers in worsening disputes over jobs, pay and services.

Disputes in the Royal Mail and the fire service are set to escalate in the coming weeks, while an increasing number of local councils are also being hit by industrial action.

A series of local disputes over job cuts in the fire service will see almost 8,000 firefighters in England - almost one in five - taking some form of industrial action by Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Communication Workers Union is set to ballot 130,000 postal staff for a national strike over pay, jobs and service next month, with the result due to be released a few days before Labour's national conference in Brighton.

Unions blamed managers in the Royal Mail and fire service for trying to force through cuts and other changes without agreement.