People and Pickets Make Glasgow!

People and Pickets Make Glasgow - Support Glasgow's Equal Pay Strike on 23 and 24 October 2018






































  

Start 'Walking the Walk' Glasgow

Glasgow Council Leader Susan Aitken has been on the airwaves this morning with a message that there's no need for today's strike because we are 'so close' to reaching a settlement.

Now this is nonsense, of course, because the Council has still to address, never mind agree, serious questions such as which comparator jobs should be used to calculate levels of compensation for the claimants.

If this important task had already been done, or was well on its way to being achieved, there would be no strike in Glasgow today and the Council's 13,000 outstanding equal pay claims would not be heading back to the Employment Tribunal - which they are! 

The reality is that Glasgow has been 'talking the talk' over equal pay for several months, but a settlement to this long-running dispute will only be found if and when the City Council starts 'walking the walk'.

  

Glasgow - Talking the Talk (19/10/18)

Here's what Glasgow City Council leader, Susan Aitken, had to say to the media back in January 2018 after the Council agreed, on a cross-party basis, not to appeal the Court of Session decision which condemned the WPBR pay scheme as 'unfit for purpose'.

“We need to send a strong message to our lower paid female employees that we value the crucial work that you do, and we believe you should be paid equally for it compared to others doing similar work.

“Our equal pay negotiations will assess claims, set comparators and determine if compensation is due. This is a complex process which will take time to complete but all parties are willing and this is the right way for us to resolve this.”

More than 10 months later and after 21 meetings with senior council officials the issue of comparators has still not been resolved - and the Council has failed to deliver the serious negotiations that were promised.

Which has why thousands of equal pay claimants are going on strike next week in the first strike of its kind in Glasgow and in the entire history of Scottish local government.

  

Glasgow Makes History (15/10/18)

Stefan Cross shared this post on Facebook the other day and it is a perfect illustration of what the Claimants' Representatives are up against in their dealings with the City Council's senior officials.

Now this misleading information is attributed to the Council Leader, Susan Aitken, and if you ask me it's fair to assume that this business about comparators is being 'spun' by someone in the chief executive's office.   

With people behaving like this it's hardly surprising the settlement process has broken down, yet the politicians keep insisting that senior council officials are operating under their direct instructions.

No wonder Glasgow City Council is facing the first equal pay strike in its history on the 23rd and 24th October 2018?

   

HOW TO PLAY TRICKS WITH WORDS

Several of you have pointed to a reply from a Cllr suggesting that agreement had been reached on many comparators. Not even close - no agreement has been reached on anything.

What she actually said was “many comparators had been accepted”.

Did you see that trick. I bet many of you thought ‘accepted’ was the same as agreed. But oh no. It’s something completely different.

So back in May we made an offer to the council to settle identifying named comparators in identified male jobs and with a calculated loss. So 3 elements - job/named man/calculation. We identified comparators for the biggest 24 jobs for both protection and post protection.

The council didn’t respond.

Then a couple of weeks ago they presented us with a single sheet of paper listing the claimant jobs and the suggested comparators marked accept or reject. As usual this was simply produced at the meeting but with no explanation and no negotiations.

Out of 24 claimants jobs they ‘accepted’ 7 of our nominated comparators. I don’t think 7 is ‘many’ but that might just be me.

Does that mean that comparators are agreed for those jobs.
Nope because the council also said that even for those 7 jobs they didn’t accept our named comparator. Again no explanation, no nominated alternative and no negotiations.

Did they accept our methodology? Nope.

Now this is important because if you change the methodology you might change the comparators. Almost with perfect timing they then suggested that to get paid for the ludicrous 37 hour rule we must nominate a comparators that gets nswp. (We don’t agree this and there have been no negotiations on the point, but it’s something they suggested very recently). Guess what, most of the jobs they claim to have ‘accepted’ don’t get nswp. Sly aren’t they.

So that ‘many comparators have been accepted’ turns into 7/24 nominated jobs, but none of the men you named and no agreement on how to calculate loss even if we did agree them. And no negotiations on any of it. But hey I’m sure they just forget to mention all of that when they briefed councillors. They weren’t misleading them. Not at all.

Stefan Cross

Glasgow - Incorrect, Partial and Misleading (14/10/18)

Here's a letter from an Glasgow councillor which claims, amongst other things, that "many (equal pay) comparators have been accepted and others will be negotiated".

Now these words are attributed by Councillor Ballantyne to the Council Leader Susan Aitken which is very odd because it's completely untrue to say that any of the comparators have been agreed.

Comparators are just one part of a complex equal pay jigsaw which requires lots of other factors to be taken into account before any final agreement can be reached - such as the level of NSWP payments, for example.

The Claimants Side put forward comparator proposals months ago, back in May, covering all claimant jobs but the majority have still to receive any response from the Council - including the proposed comparators for the Home Carers and other large claimant groups.

The factual position is that serious negotiations over male comparators have not even begun and after all this time the ball is still stuck in the Council's court which is why all the cases are going back to the Employment Tribunal and why Glasgow City Council is facing the first equal pay strike in the history of Scottish local government.   

So it's completely ludicrous to say that:

"Effective action from the unions over the past 12 years could have resolved this issue and questions must be raised here." 

The issue of comparators could and should have been resolved months (not years) ago, but this can only be achieved if both sides get down to 'brass tacks' and so far the Council has refused to do what it promised to do months ago.

I will pass a copy of this blog post on to Cllr Ballantyne, but I presume this briefing information is coming directly from the Council's chief executive's office which is worrying - because it is incorrect, partial and deliberately misleading.   

   

Riddle Me This, Glasgow?

I couldn't sleep last night as I tossed and turned trying to find an answer to the following question:

"If senior officials in Glasgow City Council have always acted under the direction of the Council's political leaders, then who authorised GCC's chief executive (Annemarie O'Donnell) to take legal action and seek leave to appeal the landmark 'unfit for purpose' WPBR judgment of the Court of Session?"

Now this action resulted in months of delay between the original judgment in August 2017 and the subsequent 'leave to appeal' hearing in December 2017 which Glasgow City Council lost again - by another unanimous decision in Scotland's highest civil court.

So who insisted on this course of action - senior officials in GCC or the political leadership of the Council?

I think we should be told - in the interests of openness and transparency.

  

Riddle me this, Glasgow? (01/09/18)

I posed this 'riddle' back in May 2018 when Glasgow City Council first came under real pressure for dragging its feet over equal pay settlement settlement negotiations with A4ES, GMB and Unison.

Four months on and the situation hasn't changed, in fact things have got worse because another four months have gone by and not a single thing of substance has been agreed.

The proof of the pudding is that serious negotiations over the Pay Gap and Male Comparator Jobs have still to get off the ground.

So I say again to the Council bosses and bigwigs:

"If equal pay settlement 'negotiations' with Glasgow City Council are making such good progress, why are the trade unions (GMB and Unison) balloting their members on industrial action?"

  

Riddle me this, Glasgow? (11/05/18)

Ask yourself this question, Glasgow - then answer it as honestly as you can.

"If equal pay settlement negotiations with the City Council are making such good progress, why do the trade unions (Unison and GMB) think it necessary to consult their members on industrial action?"

  

Get Serious, Glasgow! (03/05/18)

Lots of readers have been in touch with comments and questions about the industrial action ballots in support of the fight with Glasgow City Council for equal pay - here's what Stefan and I had to say on Facebook.

Hi Mark

What is the opinion of A4ES on the Strike Ballot papers issued to all Unison members. 

Would striking be recommended by yourselves?

J

Hi J

It's a consultative ballot rather than an official strike ballot, at this stage, and the purpose is to test the level of support for taking industrial action, if the City Council continues to drag its feet over settlement negotiations and replacing WPBR. 

So I would certainly encourage people to vote Yes!

Because by doing so they will send a strong message to the Council to 'get its finger out'! 

Mark Irvine


Hi Mark 

That's exactly my thoughts as well. So fed up with the council and their delaying tactics and not progressing with the actual settlement negotiations. 

Thanks for the clarification. 

J


HELL YES!

several folk have asked how I would vote in the ballot.

Easy - YES!

why? :

1 time to stand up and be counted

2 it has already made the council sit up and take notice. The threat of an imposed interim payment has been taken off the agenda for the moment and the council are finally looking at our proposals seriously

3 the council read out a prepared statement objecting - I will cover this when I have exact wording. Your industrial and political weight is making all the difference. We need to keep this up

4 a consultative ballot commits us to nothing but shows we’re serious. There’s a long way to go to an actual strike. This is just the first essential step.

5. The council literally laughed at suggestion they will produce counter proposal by 22nd. There is still no sense of urgency from the officers. They need to get serious. The ballot will help.

Your biggest weapon is your solidarity. 

Keep it up.

Stefan Cross

  

Glasgow - Strike for Equal Pay

Glasgow's equal pay claimants are not 'mindless sheep' - they've taken a very difficult decision, but know full well  why they're going on strike.

After more that 10 months and 21 separate meeting with senior council officials, serious negotiations to end this long-running dispute have still not got off the ground.

  

https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/16991037.glasgows-equal-pay-women-ready-to-strike/?

Glasgow's equal pay women ready to strike

By Catriona Stewart @LadyCatHT - Evening Times



IF suggestions are true and unions really are putting pressure on Glasgow's equal pay women to strike, there's certainly no sign of it here.

In GMB Scotland's strike office, home carers are, as they have plenty of practice at, rolling up their sleeves and pitching in.

Some have hit the phones, ringing round union members to share plans for the walk out next Tuesday and Wednesday.

Others are making badges, helping with paperwork and creating signs.

"I had no hesitation about voting for a strike," said Roseann Greason, who will be picketing outside Shawlands Primary.

"For 25 years I worked as a home help. In that time the job changed dramatically from being a caring job to being all to do with money.

"They have used the vulnerability of the people we help in their favour, telling us that we are letting our clients down by going out on strike.

"They think, 'It's only women.' Well, these are the women who keep Glasgow going."

The 66-year-old touches on a common theme. Every woman in the strike office talks about how hard it was to choose to strike, knowing the impact this could have on the clients they care for.

Lynn Lamont, a reablement home carer, says the same thing. "You feel guilty because you work with vulnerable people so it's not an easy option to take," she said.

"My gran gets a home carer in - some people really, really need it. We know that.

"You wouldn't be doing this job if you didn't care."

Lynn is helping to create badges for striking workers and talks about an interesting part of the equal pay campaign - how much social media has helped it take off.

Many of the women keep in touch on Facebook, sharing messages of solidarity and passing information on.

The 37-year-old adds: "I didn't know anything about equal pay until last year. I didn't know there was a claim in but then I heard it through the girls and through Facebook.

"Social media has been really powerful. It has helped the momentum build."

For one home carer, who wishes to be known by her first name only, it is vital that people understand how tough the job is.

Lainey, who works for the out of hours service, said: "People don't fully realise what home carers do. They think we make a wee cup of tea and put someone's nightie on.

"We deal with medication; moving and handling of people who are bedbound; we deal with terminal illness; we deal with mental health issues.

"We deal with catheter bags, stomas, vital medications.

"That is all daunting. It you get the medicine wrong then you are solely accountable for it. It is really serious stuff.

"We were going in to a client for years who was getting progressively more ill. His family approached us and said, 'We have got to apologise to you because we didn't realise the extent of what you do.'"

Lainey tells a story of being contacted by a newer colleague who was unable to rouse a client and needed help.

On arriving at the client's home it was clear the elderly man had passed away.

Lainey said: "He was on his knees by his bed, saying his prayers. I phoned an ambulance and there was pressure on me from the control room to carry out resuscitation.

"I knew he had passed and I didn't want to do it. It didn't feel dignified for the man but it was a very, very difficult situation.

"That's what we deal with."

Maureen McNamara, is retired now and has waited 11 years for her equal pay claim to be resolved.

As a home carer she said the job was frustrated by ever shortening appointment times with clients. For one woman, Maureen would start her shift early so they could sit and have breakfast together as she knew the woman had no one else.


She said "The management has taken the word 'care' and annihilated it.

"I want my money to spend while I'm here to spend it. Women have passed away who won't get the opportunity to enjoy money they have rightfully earned."

The 66-year-old rejects the idea women are being manipulated by their unions.

She added: "The unions answer to us. Yes, the GMB in the past let down their women workers. They have held their hands up to that but the new staff are a breath of fresh air.

"This has not come from the unions, it has come from the workers."

All the women believe they will have the support of the city when they form picket lines outside schools and civic buildings next week.

They feel frustrated by perceived delays to negotiations with Glasgow City Council - which the council strenuously denies - and want to be listened to.

Roseann said: "I think we have got the support of Glasgow. At some point in their lives, they have needed the girls.

"There's not a girl out there thinking this is a holiday or not worried about losing two days' pay.

"The council is hoping this will go away. Oh no."

Lainey added: "We genuinely, genuinely are concerned about our clients but we are being pushed and pushed: enough's enough. You are going to listen to us now.

"Glasgow keeps going every day because we are out there. Think about cleaners.

"Teachers couldn't go to work if it wasn't for the cleaners. Kids would miss school. Cleaners are thought of as at the bottom but they are the backbone.

"I'd love Annemarie O'Donnell, the council chief executive, to put a pair of trainers on and a uniform and come out and see what we do."

Linda has been a home carer for 19 years. She's popped into the strike office to pick up a pile of placards to help spread the message on the picket lines, which will be help right across the city.

The 52-year-old said: "It is a hard decision to strike but I am 100 per cent for going on strike and I think we will have the support of the city.

"They will be with us all the way.

"Could the council management do our job? They can put on overalls and we'll see. "

Glasgow - Incorrect, Partial and Misleading (14/10/18)

Here's a letter from an Glasgow councillor which claims, amongst other things, that "many (equal pay) comparators have been accepted and others will be negotiated".

Now these words are attributed by Councillor Ballantyne to the Council Leader Susan Aitken which is very odd because it's completely untrue to say that any of the comparators have been agreed.

Comparators are just one part of a complex equal pay jigsaw which requires lots of other factors to be taken into account before any final agreement can be reached - such as the level of NSWP payments, for example.

The Claimants Side put forward comparator proposals months ago, back in May, covering all claimant jobs but the majority have still to receive any response from the Council - including the proposed comparators for the Home Carers and other large claimant groups.

The factual position is that serious negotiations over male comparators have not even begun and after all this time the ball is still stuck in the Council's court which is why all the cases are going back to the Employment Tribunal and why Glasgow City Council is facing the first equal pay strike in the history of Scottish local government.   

So it's completely ludicrous to say that:

"Effective action from the unions over the past 12 years could have resolved this issue and questions must be raised here." 

The issue of comparators could and should have been resolved months (not years) ago, but this can only be achieved if both sides get down to 'brass tacks' and so far the Council has refused to do what it promised to do months ago.

I will pass a copy of this blog post on to Cllr Ballantyne, but I presume this briefing information is coming directly from the Council's chief executive's office which is worrying - because it is incorrect, partial and deliberately misleading.   

   

Glasgow Strikers Assemble!

Glasgow Strikers Assemble - along with their pooches, families and supporters!

  

Glasgow - Be There or Be Square!

Glasgow March and Rally for Equal Pay - Be There or Be Square!

When - 11.30 am, Tuesday 23 October 2018

Where - Glasgow Green to George Square

Who's Going? - Everybody plus their Aunties and Uncles

 

  

Pooches for Equal Pay (16/10/18)

Even the dogs on the street are supporting Glasgow City Council workers in their fight for equal pay. 

We shall be there!

E

  

Pooches for Equal Pay! (14/10/18)

Here's Harli who's got a very special PUG message in support of the ongoing fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council.

So if any other readers have pooches with a passion for protest and equal pay justice, like Harli and Winston, send me a photo which I can share on the blog site.

Better still why not bring your pooch along to next week's March and Rally for Equal Pay which assembles at 11am on Glasgow Green? 

  

Winston says: 'Don't let the tail wag the dog!' (17/09/18)

Here's Winston.

Winston is a Weimaraner who wags his own tail and supports the fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council.

Be like Winston - don't let your 'tail wag the dog'.  

In Glasgow, even the dogs on the street are supporting the fight for equal pay! (14/09/18)

Let me introduce readers to Winston the Weimaraner who has been lending his enthusiastic support to the fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council.

I have asked Winston's owner if I can get him a big bone from the butcher and take him out for a walk when this is all over - though I cannot say I'd do the same for some of the Council's officials. 

  

In Glasgow, even the dogs on the street are supporting the fight for equal pay! (12/09/18)

In Glasgow, even the dogs on the street know it's important for union members to return their GMB or Unison ballot papers - and to support fight for equal pay with Glasgow City Council.

  woohooo eventually we received our ballot paperstraight to the post box we go👌

T