ADMIN workers at Sandwell Council are celebrating an 11th-hour victory that has saved around 30 of them from losing up to £4,000 a year in wages.

The staff, who are mainly women, were on the brink of voting for strike action against plans to downgrade their jobs to fund three extra posts in their department.

Both Unison and GMB members voted unanimously for strike action in a “consultative” ballot.

But Sandwell Council dropped the downgrading idea just before union members of the Unison and GMB unions were due to have a formal strike ballot.

Council bosses were planning to downgrade “Band D” administrative workers in the children’s social care and early help administrative teams.

Management later said it would had decided not to continue with the regrading, which was part of a report on “budget efficiencies”.

Tony Barnsley, Sandwell Unison’s joint branch secretary, said: “Unison members in Sandwell Council have won a clear victory in defeating plans to downgrade them, which could have meant losing up to £4,000 a year.

“People were angry and management had failed to justify why those workers should be paid less, basically for doing the same job.

“The victory was met with applause at the members’ meeting.

“The mainly female workforce went back to work happy, confiscating Unison placards, as well as taking Unison tubs of chocolate to celebrate this victory.”

Mr Barnsley added that branch officers were hugged and there were handshakes.

One member emailed the branch saying: “This is great news for Business Admin.

“We won because we all stuck together.”

Sandwell Councillor Simon Hackett, cabinet member for children’s services, said: “Like all authorities we are haveing to make very tough choices because we are having to respond to massive government cuts to all budgets and services.

“We put an informal proposal together to save £80,000, which would have affected up to 30 people’s employment conditions. “However, we have listened to staff who were concerned about this and will now rely on making savings as employees leave or move on to other posts.”