DRUG and alcohol rehabilitation workers have taken to the picket lines over a long-running pay dispute.

Staff at charity We Are With You, formerly named Addaction, have started a five-day strike at their base at Kennedy House on Brunswick Avenue in Leigh.

Workers are also taking action at Coops Building in Wigan.

Union Unison say workers are angry as the charity broke a promise to ensure their pay – as former NHS employees whose roles were transferred to the charity – kept pace with health service workers doing similar jobs.

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Workers went on strike about the dispute for 11 days last year as well.

The charity said as well as a two per cent salary increase for all staff, it has made a one-off financial offer to workers in Leigh and Wigan.