UNION members are staging a protest outside Wiltshire Council’s headquarters today against contractors alleged to have “ripped up employees’ rights and thrown them in the bin”.

The GMB is angry that Balfour Beatty Living Places, which has a £25million contract to fix the county’s potholes, clean the streets and cut the grass verges, will not recognise the collective bargaining rights that its members previously enjoyed when they were employed directly by the council.

A meeting of the full council starting in Trowbridge this morning is due to consider a proposal by independent councillor Jeff Osborn that in future, Wiltshire should only enter into contracts with companies that make “a clear and public commitment” to recognise union rights.