Just a little bit more background info... several departments of many councils use what is termed 'sessional' labour. Basically this is a pool of people who are not employed full or part time by the council but are available to work at a moment's notice. When a regular member of staff phones in sick and cover is needed, the sessionals are called and the first one to answer gets the work. They were also pre-booked to cover leave. These sessionals are paid at below the standard rate and have no benefits or security. The amount of work they get depends entirely on the demands of the system and their own availability.

One library I worked in had been staffed entirely by sessional workers for a whole year, because the council I worked for 'could not afford' to hire permanent members of staff. These sessionals would not be offered a full time position despite the obvious vacancies because they were not employed in the same way that casual or temporary staff were. And this is how they became 'UK Council of the Year 2000' (that and sacking people who were too sick to work but not sick enough to take early retirement - eg. those with chronic illnesses that were not classed as disablements).

But if you think that council workers have it bad, the Civil Service Union recently "accepted" a 2.5% rise (average raise of 12p per hour for the lower grades) ON OUR BEHALF because it was better than nothing, and we were asking for 4%. It was accepted on the grounds that something is better than nothing but sets an unhealthy precedent for future bargaining. So whatever you do UNISON, DON'T accept what they will offer you, because you will be tied for life. PCS didn't fight this time (and can you imagine all those Civil Servants out on strike - except, no, Maggie decreed that most Government workers don't have the right to strike like other workers do), and they have basically castrated themselves.

Whatever the offer, keep fighting for what you need!

LTS