A UNION chief has branded the 10 per cent pay rise handed out to the council chief executive as 'disgusting'.

John Watkinson, joint branch secretary for Warrington local government branch of UNISON, hit out at Steven Broomhead's new six-figure salary, reported in the Guardian earlier this month.

"The chief executive has been voted a massive 10 per cent pay rise compared to the average local government pay rise of three per cent.

"We are disgusted that a Labour council can agree a 10 per cent pay rise for a chief executive and his staff, all this at the expense of other services," he added.

He also argued that some council staff were not receiving equal pay.

"We are disgusted and UNISON is having meetings within departments with people who are owed pay, or people who have still not been paid.

"We are going to hold meetings with our members who are classroom assistants, and kitchen assistants, with a view to employment tribunals because of their low pay compared with their male counterparts.

"I do not foresee strike action, we will operate through the courts by employment tribunals," he added.

Steve Tolley, head of the borough council's personnel services, said the council was committed to a pay and evaluation system that promotes equality, objectiveness and fairness across all jobs.

"The difficulty to date has been adopting a scheme that meets those criteria without creating an imbalance to our pay structure.

"We recognise the need to continue the process and have given a commitment to the trade unions to undertake further pilots this year," he added.

Union boss slams pay rise of 10% for council's chief officer