Dying For Equal Pay (04/09/13)
I was struck by the comments of the Home Carer from South Lanarkshire - Agnes Mills - which featured in The Herald the other day.
To my mind it is a public disgrace that people like Agnes should have waited so long for their equal pay claims to be properly addressed - and it's quite possible at this rate that some claimants may be around to enjoy the benefit of any future settlement.
Especially, as South Lanarkshire has been deliberately dragging its feet for years - not least by refusing to disclose vital pay information about the treatment of traditional male jobs - until it was finally forced to do so by a unanimous decision of the UK Supreme Court.
If you ask me, South Lanarkshire has been cynically abusing the FOI process and has been using large sums of public money in a desperate attempt to keep these pay arrangements secret - but the real losers are committed, long-serving employees like Agnes Mills who has given the Council and her local community - a lifetime of service.
So, it's no exaggeration to say that some equal pay claimants have, literally, died while waiting for their equal pay claims to be settled which may be a fact of life - since people die all the time and for all kinds of reasons
Yet I can clearly remember a similar situation not that long ago when retired Scottish miners were fighting for proper compensation - over the terrible damage caused to their health (pneumoconiosis) by the effects of coal dust and working underground for years.
And I can remember the trade unions and lawyers involved condemning the behaviour of the foot dragging behaviour of those responsible for dealing with the miners' claims - instead of getting down to business and putting the real issues before the courts, if a negotiated settlement could not be reached.
Now if my memory serves me correctly, I can also recall that Scottish MSPs and MPs joined in these calls - particularly Labour parliamentarians given their historic links with the mining trade unions and mining communities.
South Lanarkshire Council is now in a similar position - having had its in-house job evaluation scheme declared 'unfit for purpose' for failing to comply with Equal Pay legislation - and been told by the UK Supreme Court that its pay arrangements are a matter of legitimate public interest.
I look forward to what South Lanarkshire MSPs and MPs have to say in the weeks ahead.
A Council is facing a record equal-pay bill of more than £100 million, after agreeing to final settlement talks following years of resisting claims from 3000 female staff.
DELIGHTED: Home carer Agnes Mills has been waiting since 2005 for an answer to her claim. Picture: Colin Mearns
Labour-run South Lanarkshire, which lost a related case at the UK Supreme Court, has caved in to growing pressure and agreed to three months of discussions, rather than resume Employment Tribunal hearings in Glasgow next month.
Similar cases cost Glasgow City Council more than £50m several years ago and although South Lanarkshire is a smaller authority it is believed its refusal to settle going back many more years, and more serious breaches of equal pay, could see the council pay a heavier price.
The lawyer representing the women, Stefan Cross, QC, of Action 4 Equality (Scotland), said: "This is a very significant development. It is, however, only the first step with no guarantees of success."
The council's U-turn follows its recent loss of a crucial appeal case at the UK Supreme Court.
In the first case of its kind involving a Scottish public body, the council had asked the court to overturn an order by the Scottish Information Commissioner to release pay data under the Freedom Of Information Act.
The Court Of Session, Scotland's highest court, had already ruled the information should be released to equal pay campaigner Mark Irvine, but the council refused, ultimately landing it with a £200,000 legal bill.
When the data was released, it suggested male manual workers had been systematically paid more than female staff with the same skill levels, despite the two groups in theory being paid the same hourly wages.
Council leader Eddie McAvoy, who has been in office since 1999, throughout the time of the unfair pay, faces calls to resign.
The council is already being taken to a tribunal by 3000 female workers claiming more than £10m in back pay, with a hearing due in October.
Mr McAvoy said: "I am pleased there have been positive moves on this issue and I look forward to further progress being made."
Carol Fox, of Fox and Partners, who is also representing some of the women, said: "We are always focussed on the needs of our claimants and hope we can agree favourable terms in the near future."
Mr Irvine said: "Goodness knows what the trade unions will make of this development, after siding with the council all these years and actively discouraging their lowest paid members from submitting equal pay claims.
"In my view, the trade unions in South Lanarkshire should hang their heads in shame, as they have no credibility with their members after their craven behaviour."
Agnes Mills, 66, a home carer, from Halfway, Cambuslang, is one worker who stands to receive a pay-out when the cases are settled.
She said: "I put in my claim when we heard about it in 2005 and I have been waiting all that time for an answer.
"I was a home help for 30 years. I remember a letter from the council saying I should speak to my union, but the union rep took the letter away as if I shouldn't have had it.
"Then I heard about men getting money and I joined the application. I remember at one point I had to sign a will form in case I died before winning. I thought I would die before I got anything, but from today I think I might win."
To my mind it is a public disgrace that people like Agnes should have waited so long for their equal pay claims to be properly addressed - and it's quite possible at this rate that some claimants may be around to enjoy the benefit of any future settlement.
Especially, as South Lanarkshire has been deliberately dragging its feet for years - not least by refusing to disclose vital pay information about the treatment of traditional male jobs - until it was finally forced to do so by a unanimous decision of the UK Supreme Court.
If you ask me, South Lanarkshire has been cynically abusing the FOI process and has been using large sums of public money in a desperate attempt to keep these pay arrangements secret - but the real losers are committed, long-serving employees like Agnes Mills who has given the Council and her local community - a lifetime of service.
So, it's no exaggeration to say that some equal pay claimants have, literally, died while waiting for their equal pay claims to be settled which may be a fact of life - since people die all the time and for all kinds of reasons
Yet I can clearly remember a similar situation not that long ago when retired Scottish miners were fighting for proper compensation - over the terrible damage caused to their health (pneumoconiosis) by the effects of coal dust and working underground for years.
And I can remember the trade unions and lawyers involved condemning the behaviour of the foot dragging behaviour of those responsible for dealing with the miners' claims - instead of getting down to business and putting the real issues before the courts, if a negotiated settlement could not be reached.
Now if my memory serves me correctly, I can also recall that Scottish MSPs and MPs joined in these calls - particularly Labour parliamentarians given their historic links with the mining trade unions and mining communities.
South Lanarkshire Council is now in a similar position - having had its in-house job evaluation scheme declared 'unfit for purpose' for failing to comply with Equal Pay legislation - and been told by the UK Supreme Court that its pay arrangements are a matter of legitimate public interest.
I look forward to what South Lanarkshire MSPs and MPs have to say in the weeks ahead.
Council facing £100m bill as it agrees to talks in equal pay row
DELIGHTED: Home carer Agnes Mills has been waiting since 2005 for an answer to her claim. Picture: Colin Mearns
Labour-run South Lanarkshire, which lost a related case at the UK Supreme Court, has caved in to growing pressure and agreed to three months of discussions, rather than resume Employment Tribunal hearings in Glasgow next month.
Similar cases cost Glasgow City Council more than £50m several years ago and although South Lanarkshire is a smaller authority it is believed its refusal to settle going back many more years, and more serious breaches of equal pay, could see the council pay a heavier price.
The lawyer representing the women, Stefan Cross, QC, of Action 4 Equality (Scotland), said: "This is a very significant development. It is, however, only the first step with no guarantees of success."
The council's U-turn follows its recent loss of a crucial appeal case at the UK Supreme Court.
In the first case of its kind involving a Scottish public body, the council had asked the court to overturn an order by the Scottish Information Commissioner to release pay data under the Freedom Of Information Act.
The Court Of Session, Scotland's highest court, had already ruled the information should be released to equal pay campaigner Mark Irvine, but the council refused, ultimately landing it with a £200,000 legal bill.
When the data was released, it suggested male manual workers had been systematically paid more than female staff with the same skill levels, despite the two groups in theory being paid the same hourly wages.
Council leader Eddie McAvoy, who has been in office since 1999, throughout the time of the unfair pay, faces calls to resign.
The council is already being taken to a tribunal by 3000 female workers claiming more than £10m in back pay, with a hearing due in October.
Mr McAvoy said: "I am pleased there have been positive moves on this issue and I look forward to further progress being made."
Carol Fox, of Fox and Partners, who is also representing some of the women, said: "We are always focussed on the needs of our claimants and hope we can agree favourable terms in the near future."
Mr Irvine said: "Goodness knows what the trade unions will make of this development, after siding with the council all these years and actively discouraging their lowest paid members from submitting equal pay claims.
"In my view, the trade unions in South Lanarkshire should hang their heads in shame, as they have no credibility with their members after their craven behaviour."
Agnes Mills, 66, a home carer, from Halfway, Cambuslang, is one worker who stands to receive a pay-out when the cases are settled.
She said: "I put in my claim when we heard about it in 2005 and I have been waiting all that time for an answer.
"I was a home help for 30 years. I remember a letter from the council saying I should speak to my union, but the union rep took the letter away as if I shouldn't have had it.
"Then I heard about men getting money and I joined the application. I remember at one point I had to sign a will form in case I died before winning. I thought I would die before I got anything, but from today I think I might win."
