On Thursday, 66 of the 102 Australian Services Union members took a vote, with 55 in favour of taking protected industrial action.

Wangaratta Council chief executive Brendan McGrath said he would conduct a survey of all staff, including about 270 non-union employees, to find out their key issues with the enterprise bargaining agreement.

The deal for a 1.5 per cent pay rise, cutting back allowances and removing performance bonuses was rejected last week.

“Our view will be so long as we’ve got some dates set up for meetings and so long as we’re still at the table talking and negotiating, they wouldn’t have justifiable reasons to be taking protected action,” he said. “Our focus will be on trying to resolve the issue and getting the agreement itself back up to the vote, hopefully carried, and getting on with business.”

Negotiations will involve looking at employees’ priorities and what would have to be lost from other areas to make them happen.

Mr McGrath said he respected the staff’s right to strike if neither side was willing to budge, but would try to ensure it did not disrupt the community.

“We’ve been really clear over the past couple of weeks that we’re happy to continue the conversation,” he said.

“What we’ve also said is don’t expect us to come to the table with a big pot of money or an open cheque.

“We all understand the financial constraints on local government in the current environment.”