YOGA, aerobics and pilates instructors are voting on whether to strike in a dispute over pay.

Public-sector union Unison said its members at Colchester City Council have not had a pay rise for almost a decade.

The union said instructors at Leisure World are directly employed by the council but their pay is determined differently to other local authority staff.

Yoga and pilates rates have remained at £25 a session since 2015, said Unison, adding that aerobics instructors receive £22.50 per session.

Arlene, a yoga instructor, said: “I don’t even reach the minimum wage for the classes I teach, with all the preparation that goes into them.

“It doesn’t feel like we’re even considered to be working for the council. 

“They’ve never increased the market rate. Everyone else in the building gets a pay rise but we’re forgotten.”

Unison’s Eastern area organiser Emma Aboubaker said: “Instructors are bending over backwards to provide the best service they can ... but bosses can’t stretch to more than one pay rise a decade.”

Colchester council chief executive Pam Donnelly said it has improved its pay offer to the workers and hopes to reach a resolution.