ONE thousand angry Southampton council workers and trade union campaigners will lay siege to the Guildhall today.

The crowd will gather outside as councillors debate pay cuts that have been imposed on staff.

Hundreds of seats will be set out for the public to watch city’s councillors on an extended stage discuss the industrial action that has crippled services in the city and left mountains of uncollected rubbish spilling onto the streets.

Guildhall doormen have been drafted in to beef up the council’s own security after the last council meeting in February was stormed by angry bin who hammered at the doors of the council chamber at the Civic Centre.

In an unprecedented move the mayor was forced to clear the rowdy public gallery after warning hecklers to keep quiet.

Council leader Royston Smith said he had advised Conservative councillors not to walk into the building through the main entrance and risk public order when “emotions were running high”.

And he will tell councillors that the strikes have not cost the council a penny as savings from unpaid wages to striking staff had offset the costs of the industrial action and resulted in a “marginal surplus”.

Today’s meeting was moved from the Sir James Mathews Building at Solent University to the larger Guildhall while the council chamber under goes refurbishment.

Council workers will march through the city carrying four giant balloons for a rally and protest outside the meeting.

Tory council leaders brought in new contracts on Monday cutting the pay and conditions of more than 4,000 staff to help plug a £76m budget hole over the next four years. Shropshire is now following Southampton’s lead.

Just ten workers have refused to sign the contracts, although 23 more who had not handed them in by the Monday night deadline were yesterday being pressured by managers to make a decision.

Unison branch secretary Mike Tucker said the campaign of industrial action by up to 2,400 union members – now in its eighth week – would continue to restore their pay or reach a negotiated settlement.

He said social workers had signalled they would now be prepared to walkout in anger at extra payments, worth £1,400 a year to stop children’s social workers in the department quitting.

A joint Unison and Unite strike committee will meet this week to consider which groups of staff will be taking further action Talks through mediation service ACAS collapsed in stalemate weeks ago, although there are hopes of direct talks over the next week.

More than 600 workers will strike today as hundreds of carpenters, bricklayers, plumbers, electricians and gas fitters join striking bin men, street cleaners and port health workers who walked out on Monday.

Workers were threatened with dismissal if they did not sign up to pay cuts of between two and 5.5 per cent.

Unions have lodged an employment tribunal claim, with unfair dismissal claims to follow, that could cost the council up to £12m if successful, wiping out all the savings from the pay cuts.