THE deadlock has been broken in a long-running pay dispute affecting thousands of staff at City of York Council.

Members of the Unison trade union have voted to accept a revised offer from their bosses, following the authority’s lengthy pay and grading review.

Unison regional officer John Kinsella said: “I am pleased we are now able to move forward on this issue. The uncertainty over the last year has been upsetting for our members and has not been good for the council.”

But he warned as many as 1,000 staff may now appeal against the classification of their job, meaning fresh wrangles.

Just over half of Unison’s members took part in the ballot, after an earlier poll had voted against the council’s original offer.

Of those taking part in the second vote, 77 per cent opted to accept the council’s offer, with 23 per cent voting against it.

Mr Kinsella said: “Even though about 20 per cent of our members will lose pay as a result of these changes, these proposals were the best that could be achieved through negotiation and they do mean that men and women in the council should now get paid equally.

“We believe that had there been a ‘no’ vote, the council would have imposed changes anyway and that they would have seen even more people losing money and at a greater rate.”

He said the refusal of the original offer had led to an extra £750,000 to £800,000 being provided by the council, to compensate for changes in allowances for things such as overtime. He said there was now extended pay protection, changes to workers’ notice period, and a “redistribution” of overtime payments.

But he said many staff were unhappy with how their job had been graded, and may appeal.

Council chief executive Bill McCarthy said: “I’m pleased that the outcome of the union ballot is for acceptance of the new pay structure.

“The pay review process has been an enormously complex and challenging exercise for everyone.

“However, it has enabled us to create a much simpler, more transparent pay structure for the future, ensuring that the council is a fair and progressive place to work. Staff who are not happy with their proposed new pay grade can appeal if they believe their current job description doesn’t accurately reflect the work they do.”