More than 1,000 council workers are facing pay cuts of up to 25% as part of a drive to give equal pay to staff.
Four thousand workers at Bury Council will be affected by the national equal pay laws, but some will see their wages increase and others will stay the same.
All local authorities have had to carry out a pay review, but Bury is the first council in Greater Manchester to announce its changes.
Union Unison said the pay cuts for some were "very serious".
For some staff at Bury Council, the changes mean a drop in salary of nearly £7,000 a year.
Some long-serving workers are facing a pay packet even less than the one they started out on years ago.
"These are good staff that provide very very good service "
Staff have been seeking advice from the Unison, who said they never expected the pay cuts to be so large.
Stephen Morton from the union said: "We are looking at the appeal process, but we are not entirely comfortable with that at the moment so we are negotiating.
"Ultimately, our members will decide if they want to take industrial action, to try to correct some of the wrongs.
"It's very serious."
Chief executive of Bury Council, Mark Sanders, said: "We as an employer are obliged to review all of our staff's pay in relation to one another and we have to implement that with due consideration to equal pay for work of equal value.
"That has meant that some staff have gone up and some staff unfortunately have gone down.
"These are good staff that provide a very very good service to the people of Bury and they have been very loyal to this council and the locality and my heart does go out to them."
The council said salary reductions would be phased in over a three-year period to protect staff.
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