Dorset Council staff have seen a 25 per cent real term reduction in pay over recent years according to the main staff union.
Councillors have been told that stress levels at County Hall are at an all-time high with women and lower paid workers likely to be worse off under the next round of ‘savings.’
Unison rep’ Becky Brookman told this month’s full Dorset Council meeting that grants to the council from the government had been cut by 60 per cent since 2010.
She said that currently the nationally negotiated pay offer of 3.2 per cent represented another real-term pay cut, the latest in a long line over 15 years.
She added: “Without dedicated staff local government would collapse and without fair pay councils will continue to struggle to recruit and retain staff… across the UK 900,000 jobs have been lost in local government since 2010, a reduction of more than 30 per cent.
“At Dorset Council we have seen cuts upon cuts; restructures after restructures due to the lack of government funding from this and the previous government.
“Staff will shortly be going through one of the biggest cuts to staff since the creation of Dorset Council… with proposals to cut hundreds of jobs over the next three years, beginning this summer.
“Staff have been cut to the bone: they are doing their best to plug a hole not of their making which has resulted in work related stress being at an all-time high; any further cuts will lead to essential service cuts.”
Cabinet portfolio holder Cllr Ben Wilson said the council valued the contribution of staff and would continue to lobby the Government for better funding.