Glasgow - The Next Steps
Lots of readers have been in touch to ask what's happening in Glasgow after the big Court of Session decision which drove a 'coach and horses' through the City Council's WPBR pay arrangements.
Now I can't speak for the City Council itself, but there have been informal discussions taking place behind the scenes and here is my understanding of the current position being adopted by the new SNP-led administration.
The senior officials have a vested interest in defending previous advice they have given (and previous administrations have given) even though their advice looks ridiculous in the wake of the Court of Session decision which judged Glasgow's pay arrangements and job evaluation scheme (JES) to be 'unfit for purpose'.
Instead of having the truth dragged out of them bit by bit, or via a succession of FoI requests, surely the Council's senior officials should be preparing a detailed report which fills in all the missing pieces of the jigsaw, also know as the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR).
Most likely this will require a fundamental reappraisal and possible replacement of the WPBR which was heavily criticised in the Court of Session for its lack of 'independence'.
As regular readers know, Glasgow brought in and paid for a private consultant to concoct an 'in-house' job evaluation scheme which the local unions went along with at the time, against the advice of COSLA and national union officials.
The City Council recently agreed to provide a whole new raft of pay data by early October 2017 and this will be a crucial test of its good faith and commitment to getting serious settlement negotiations underway soon.
If the City Council doesn't deliver on this commitment, then all bets will be off and the Action 4 Equality Scotland equal pay campaign in Glasgow will start again in earnest, because a clear timetable has to be set for settlement discussions to begin and conclude which is, of course, what you would expect in any major negotiation.
For my part, I am going to continue my FoI requests until there is some sign that the City Council's senior officials are listening since it is, and was, their job (and their predecessors' jobs) to look after the interests of all Glasgow employees - including the lowest paid.
Whereas the track record of Glasgow City Council over the past 10 years has been to devise and then defend a pay 'stitch-up' (via the WPBR) on behalf of the former bonus earning, male dominated groups.
Now I can't speak for the City Council itself, but there have been informal discussions taking place behind the scenes and here is my understanding of the current position being adopted by the new SNP-led administration.
- The Council has restated that it wishes to achieve a negotiated settlement of all the outstanding equal pay claims.
- The Council has also restated that it does not wish to continue with a prolonged legal battle, but has still to confirm whether it intends to seek 'leave to appeal' the second Court of Session decision to the UK Supreme Court.
- The Council is currently assessing its options for taking these issues forward and aims to set out clear proposals within the next few weeks.
- The Council remains committed to 'open, honest and transparent' pay arrangements, but recognises there is much more still to do such as achieving the required level of co-operation from the relevant officials.
The senior officials have a vested interest in defending previous advice they have given (and previous administrations have given) even though their advice looks ridiculous in the wake of the Court of Session decision which judged Glasgow's pay arrangements and job evaluation scheme (JES) to be 'unfit for purpose'.
Instead of having the truth dragged out of them bit by bit, or via a succession of FoI requests, surely the Council's senior officials should be preparing a detailed report which fills in all the missing pieces of the jigsaw, also know as the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR).
Most likely this will require a fundamental reappraisal and possible replacement of the WPBR which was heavily criticised in the Court of Session for its lack of 'independence'.
As regular readers know, Glasgow brought in and paid for a private consultant to concoct an 'in-house' job evaluation scheme which the local unions went along with at the time, against the advice of COSLA and national union officials.
The City Council recently agreed to provide a whole new raft of pay data by early October 2017 and this will be a crucial test of its good faith and commitment to getting serious settlement negotiations underway soon.
If the City Council doesn't deliver on this commitment, then all bets will be off and the Action 4 Equality Scotland equal pay campaign in Glasgow will start again in earnest, because a clear timetable has to be set for settlement discussions to begin and conclude which is, of course, what you would expect in any major negotiation.
For my part, I am going to continue my FoI requests until there is some sign that the City Council's senior officials are listening since it is, and was, their job (and their predecessors' jobs) to look after the interests of all Glasgow employees - including the lowest paid.
Whereas the track record of Glasgow City Council over the past 10 years has been to devise and then defend a pay 'stitch-up' (via the WPBR) on behalf of the former bonus earning, male dominated groups.
