Police staff in England and Wales, including community support officers and fingerprint experts, are to be balloted over industrial action in protest at a 1% pay offer.

Unions representing civilian staff said they were angry that after a two-year wage freeze they were being subjected to the same restrictions as other public sector workers.

NHS staff including midwives and nurses staged a walkout on Monday over pay, and civil servants took action on Wednesday in a long-running dispute with the government over pay and job cuts.

Unions have asked for a 3% pay rise for police staff and a 3% increase in their allowances. In an informal ballot in the summer, the staff overwhelmingly rejected the 1% offer. Industrial action could be taken before Christmas.

The Unison union’s general secretary, Dave Prentis, said: “Unison police staff members are angry after a two-year pay freeze followed by a miserly 1% increase last year. We are urging the employers to come back to the table and negotiate a fair pay deal.

“As the government’s savage cuts to policing continue to bite, police staff are being asked to do more and more as colleagues are made redundant. In a survey of our police staff members carried out in the summer, 40% said they are now struggling to pay the bills. This is no way to treat the staff who keep our communities safe.”

The union’s national officer, Fiona Farmer, said: “Staff are angry and feel undervalued by a government that clearly does not recognise and reward these key public sector workers … I would urge the employers to return to the negotiating table and deliver a decent pay rise.”

GMB, one of Britain’s largest unions, agreed that the government pay offer was inadequate. Its national officer, Sharon Holder, said: “GMB police staff, following years of below-inflation pay cuts, have just about had enough. The offer of 1% from the Police Staff Council is viewed by them as not only derisory, but insulting, particularly as support staff roles are being replaced by officers. Jobs for elite boys and girls in blue who can no longer work on the frontline to mask the actual figure of job losses in police forces.”

Police staff involved in the dispute also include 999 call takers and dispatchers, criminal justice unit clerks, custody and detention officers, and a wide range of operational and organisational support roles.