Public sector workers agree pay freeze to safeguard jobs

Whitley Council workers on the Island have accepted a year-long pay freeze in exchange for a guarantee there will be no compulsory redundancies.

Just under half of the 2,000 public sector workers employed on Whitley Council terms voted in a ballot on the deal, tabled by the employees' side.

The result was close - with 504 in favour of the pay freeze and 419 against.

In a statement both sides of the negotiating body say the deal is in the interests of keeping jobs and helping employers in central and local govenment cope with budget cuts.

Both sides of Whitley Council have now signed an agreement confiming the freeze on pay from April 1 this year until March 31 next year, on the basis no jobs will be lost through compulsory redundancy during that period.