Majority of council staff considering quitting

Seven out of 10 local-government workers thought about quitting in the past year, a poll for public-sector workers union Unison has found.

Seven out of 10 local-government workers thought about quitting in the past year, a poll for public-sector workers union Unison has found.

The NOP survey – one of the largest surveys of local-government staff ever – found despondency among local-government workers to be rife.

The poll comes on the eve of a ballot of Unison members on strike action over pay and conditions.

With a new mood of militancy taking hold in Britain's work places, key services could be affected by a series of strikes if demands over pay and conditions are not met.

The NOP survey for Unison found that of those people who had considered leaving their job, two in five were actively looking for work elsewhere, rising to more than half among day-care workers.

Many complained about pay, the lack of promotion prospects and the scant resources they had to do their jobs at a time when workloads and pressure were increasing. Some 69 per cent said stress levels in their department had increased and 57 per cent felt morale had got worse.

Others – around half – were worried about job security, particularly those working in housing and residential care.

Unison's national secretary for local government, Heather Wakefield, said: "It's goodbye to goodwill. These are dedicated workers who say they feel undervalued by their employers, poorly paid and lack the resources to do their jobs."