NEARLY 7,000 Bolton Council workers could take industrial action in the summer in a dispute over pay, union leaders warned today.

Leaders of the public sector union Unison claim industrial action is a step closer after employers made it clear they were unlikely to improve on an offer worth seven per cent over three years.

National officer Heather Wakefield said she could not rule out industrial action because of the "tough stance" adopted by the national employers' body. It follows warnings by Bolton branch secretary Martin Challender that his members were prepared to take part in industrial action to ensure their wages do not fall further behind other public sector workers.

He has described the union's demand of a four per cent rise on top of a £200 pay increase and the introduction of a minimum wage of £6.04-an-hour as "modest".

But the leader of the council, Cllr Bob Howarth, believes the claim adds up to rise of 16 per cent. He said: "This is way, way beyond the level we are prepared to go."

Ms Wakefield said the offer had "more strings than the Philharmonic", including withholding the third year of any pay rise if councils had not carried out an equal pay review.

She said: "Why should our members be penalised for employers' failures? I cannot see a way forward unless the employers rethink their penny-pinching approach.

"At this rate we cannot rule out industrial action over the summer."

Peter Allenson, national officer of the Transport and General Workers Union, said: "Many of the strings would actually lead to pay cuts so it's not surprising there is a mood of anger up and down the country which could spill over into industrial action."