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Unions are protesting over controversial moves by ministers to scrap a so-called rule of 85 which allows council workers to retire early if their age and years of service add up to 85.Local government minister Phil Woolas said in a statement that the rule will be scrapped from October 1, maintaining that it did not comply with European legislation on age discrimination.
But the Government held out the prospect of further talks in a bid to resolve the long-running row and said it hoped that discussions will now begin with unions and local authority employers which will avert the need for further strikes.
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The Government said that nothing had been ruled in or out as far as fresh talks were concerned.
Ministers said they wanted to address the "important issue" of protecting existing pension scheme members.
Unions were deciding their next move before making any announcement about further industrial action.
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