Making Glasgow Honest Again (5)



Here is the fifth of my FoI requests to Glasgow City Council asking for details about the pay of another former bonus earning male job, following the introduction of the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review in 2006/07.

7 February 2017
Annemarie O'Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow City Council
By email to - annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk


Dear Ms O'Donnell
FOISA Request
I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. 
Please provide me with anonymised pay information relating to the following City Council post for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010:
  1. The highest earning City Council Roadworker post (Reference SJ0034 - Grade 5)
  2. The total earnings for the post (for each year) excluding any overtime payments
  3. The basic annual salary and annual salary Spinal Column Point for the post
  4. The hourly rate and hourly Spinal Column Point for the post
I look forward to your reply and would be grateful if you could respond to me by e-mail at: markirvine@compuserve.com

 Kind regards

Mark Irvine 

Glasgow City Council now has 20 working days to respond as it does with my other requests, the first of which was sent on 1 February 2017.

The Council could, of course, provide this pay information straight away, if really wanted to and if its officials stopped playing this ridiculous game, not least because Glasgow has been 'on notice' for months and is obviously in a position to provide the data at the drop of a hat. 

In any event, the Council must now answer by 1 March 2017 and its officials face two stark choices: 
  • they begin to behave openly, transparently and face up to their obligations over equal pay 
  • they continue to thumb their noses at a largely female workforce by opting for  obfuscation and delay
If Glasgow chooses the latter and goes down the same road as Labour-run North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire, I predict a mighty backlash in the run up to the council elections on 4th May 2017. 

So the ball is now firmly in Glasgow's court and the leadership of the Council faces a big decision in the weeks ahead.

As before people can do their bit to help by spreading the word far and wide to co-workers and friends - and via Facebook and Twitter. 

  



Make Glasgow Honest Again (4)



Here is the fourth of my FoI requests to Glasgow City Council asking for details about the pay of another former bonus earning male job, following the introduction of the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review in 2006/07.
6 February 2017 
Annemarie O'Donnell 
Chief Executive 
Glasgow City Council 
                         By email to - annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk

Dear Ms O'Donnell

FOISA Request 

I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Please provide me with anonymised pay information relating to the following City Council post for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010: 

  1. The highest earning City Council Gardener post (Reference SJ046 - Grade 4) 
  2. The total earnings for the post (for each year) excluding any overtime payments 
  3. The basic annual salary and annual salary Spinal Column Point for the post 
  4. The hourly rate and hourly Spinal Column Point for the post 
I look forward to your reply and would be grateful if you could respond to me by e-mail at: markirvine@compuserve.com

Kind regards


Mark Irvine 

I said yesterday that there are thousands of equal pay claimants across Glasgow who are bound to know at least some of the individuals working in these jobs.

The Council could provide this information in a heartbeat of course, but there's always more than one way to skin a cat.

So spread the word as far and wide as possible by Liking and Sharing this post on Facebook and Twitter.

  


Make Glasgow Honest Again (3)














Here is the third of my FoI requests to Glasgow City Council asking for details about the pay of another former bonus earning male job, following the introduction of the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review in 2006/07.
3 February 2017
Annemarie O'Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow City Council
By email to - annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk

Dear Ms O'Donnell

FOISA Request

I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Please provide me with anonymised pay information relating to the following City Council post for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010:
  1. The highest earning City Council Gravedigger post (Reference SJ051 - Grade 3) 
  2. The total earnings for the post (for each year) excluding any overtime payments 
  3. The basic annual salary and annual salary Spinal Column Point for the post 
  4. The hourly rate and hourly Spinal Column Point for the post 
I look forward to your reply and would be grateful if you could respond to me by e-mail at: markirvine@compuserve.com

Kind regards


Mark Irvine 

As I said at the recent A4ES meeting in Castlemilk equal pay claimants are virtually certain to know people doing these jobs - they might be family members, neighbours of friends.

Back in 2005/06 a Home Carer connected me to say that her husband worked in one of these jobs: turned out he was a Gardener and the information he was able to provide (confidentially of course) helped bring the City Council to the negotiating table.

So if you know any Glasgow Gardeners, Refuse Workers, Gravedgiggers or Road Workers, ask if they'd be willing to speak to me privately and help in the fight for equal pay with Glasgow City Council.

  


Make Glasgow Honest Again (2)


Here is the second of my FoI requests to Glasgow City Council asking for details about the pay of another traditional male former bonus earning job, following the introduction of the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review in 2006/07.

2 February 2017
Annemarie O'Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow City Council
By email to - annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk

Dear Ms O'Donnell

FOISA Request
I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. 
Please provide me with anonymised pay information relating to the following City Council post for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010:
  1. The highest earning City Council Refuse Collector post (Reference SJ053 - Grade 2)
  2. The total earnings for the post (for each year) excluding any overtime payments
  3. The basic annual salary and annual salary Spinal Column Point for the post
  4. The hourly rate and hourly Spinal Column Point for the post
I look forward to your reply and would be grateful if you could respond to me by e-mail at: markirvine@compuserve.com

Kind regards


Mark Irvine 

As before this is a simple, straightforward request which the City Council should be able to answer at the drop of a hat.

If the City Council has nothing to hide, I can expect an honest answer answer in 20 working days time or less according to the time limits laid down in the FoI legislation.

Let's hope that Glasgow has learned some lessons and doesn't behave in the same ludicrous way as North Lanarkshire and South Lanarkshire Councils.

  


Make Glasgow Honest Again (1)



I said on the blog site the yesterday that I was about to open another FoI (Freedom of Information) front in the fight for equal pay with Labour-run Glasgow City Council.

Well here's the first in a series of FoI requests which are being sent to the City Council's chief executive, Annemarie O'Donnell, others will follow in the days ahead.

1 February 2017
Annemarie O'Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow City Council
By email to - annemarie.odonnell@ced.glasgow.gov.uk


Dear Ms O'Donnell

FOISA Request
I would like to make the following request under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002. 
Please provide me with anonymised pay information relating to the following City Council post for the years 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010:
  1. The highest earning City Council Gardener 1 post (Reference SJ043 - Grade 1)
  2. The total earnings for the post (for each year) excluding any overtime payments
  3. The basic annual salary and annual Spinal Column Point for the post
  4. The hourly rate and hourly Spinal Column Point for the post
I look forward to your reply and would be grateful if you could respond to me by e-mail at: markirvine@compuserve.com

Kind regards


Mark Irvine 

Now the purpose of this request is to put the facts on the table regarding the pay arrangements for the City Council's former bonus earning (male) jobs following the introduction of Glasgow's Workforce Pay and Benefits review in 2006/07.

All that's being asked is for Glasgow City Council to come clean and share this data in an anonymised format, so that a fair and honest assessment can be made of the outstanding equal pay claims.    

Just ask yourself, "Why would senior management and elected officials in Glasgow refuse to provide this information, if the City Council has nothing to hide?"

As regular readers know, I have plenty of experience in dealing with FoI requests and I have used these in previous equal pay campaigns, notably in North Lanarkshire (NLC) and South Lanarkshire (SLC) councils.

NLC and SLC (both Labour-run by the way) initially refused to provide the details I requested, but were eventually forced to 'spill the beans' by the Scottish Information Commissioner and UK Supreme Court.

South Lanarkshire ran up a huge legal bill fighting its case all the way to the UK Supreme Court in London having lost the argument with the Scottish Information Commissioner and Scotland's Court of Session.

South Lanarkshire is also where the local trade unions actively discouraged their members from pursuing equal pay claims against the local Labour council. 

So we shall see what happens - Glasgow has 20 working days to respond to my request, but after the way people been treated in relation to equal pay you would think the Council leadership would be falling over themselves to do the right thing by the workforce in 2017.

If you ask me, what Glasgow needs is some honesty and straight talking.


 

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