LOCAL government employees who are on a 48-hour strike over pay since midnight on Tuesday seems to have had little effect on the district s services. The strike was called by UNISON in protest at a pay offer of 2.45 per cent which the union says is well

LOCAL government employees who are on a 48-hour strike over pay since midnight on Tuesday seems to have had little effect on the district's services.

The strike was called by UNISON in protest at a pay offer of 2.45 per cent which the union says is well below the present inflation rate.They are demanding a pay increase of six per cent or 50p an hour, whichever is the greater

Today (Wednesday) Herts County Council described the workers' action as having "a sparse effect". County said it was aware of just two schools being forced to close because of the action and three partially closing.

Four libraries were also shut - at Hatfield, Hertford, Redbourn and Wheathampstead.

Of the seven Adult care services affected, three were forced to close for the strike. However staff were able to warn their patients in advance of the closure and provide alternatives to prevent the elderly or disabled being left without care.

By midday only an estimated 3.5 per cent of workers had joined the strike.

Some fire services support staff had joined the picket lines, but as they held admin positions there action would have no effect on the emergency service.

St Albans District Council estimated that 86 of its 398 employees had gone on strike, mainly causing disruption to callers in person at the Civic Centre. There was no disruption to refuse collections as they are outsourced and were operating as normal.

A spokesperson for Herts County Council said: "We are working to ensure that any disruption is kept to a minimum, particularly for vulnerable clients. We hope the dispute will be resolved at a national level as soon as possible.