Fife Council - bully boys beware!
Undaunted, local management are now ignoring the result of the ballot - having originally agreed one was essential for staff confidence in the first place - while the tame local trade union officials deliberately look the other way.
An important safeguard was put in place allowing staff to appeal against their new grades - if they were unhappy with the outcome. But the supposed safety net has been shown to be a complete joke with the release of a letter from the council dated 27 March 2007 which states:
"No information regarding any job other than your own will be provided."
Effectively, this means that anyone wishing to pursue an appeal about their grade and job evaluation outcome is absolutely in the dark - it's the equivalent of trying to hit a moving target while being forced to wear a blindfold. And this from people who pretend they have the interests of the workforce at heart!
The last time a major job evaluation exercise was carried out by Scotland's councils (in the mid 1980s), every single employee had access to a detailed explanation of how their own job was scored and graded.
The information was freely and widely available - it certainly did not have to be dragged out of the employers or the trade unions.
Just as important, employees also had access to the same information for all the other jobs within their council - so that they could make sensible comparisons about other jobs - the underlying principle being that justice had to be seen to be done.
Twenty years on we live in a modern world where freedom of information rules (allegedly) - and where governments at all levels are supposed to act in an open and transparent manner - as the servants of the people, not their masters!.
Yet, Fife and some other councils seem to think they can just make up the rules to suit themselves - as they go along - and to hell with everyone else.
The bad news for Fife is that they will ultimately be held to account by the Employment Tribunals for their bad behaviour - because they are breaking every rule in the book, instead of ensuring that Fife employees have a proper opportunity to question and challenge what is being done in the council's name.
In the meantime, our advice is not to take this lying down - but to fight back and demand answers from the powers that be! A client in Perth & Kinross council has enlisted the support of her own local MP, Pete Wishart, in the fight for fair treatment and access to information - so why not raise the issue in the same way with Fife's esteemed politicians.
Gordon Brown (MP for Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath)
Gordon is definitely 'He Who Must Be Obeyed' when it comes to Scottish Labour party affairs - and a word in the ear to his councillor colleagues on Fife Council is bound to achieve results - Gordon can be contacted at: browng@parliament.uk
Sir Menzies Campbell ((MP for North East Fife)
Sir Ming is old school, a gentleman and a good sport - who will surely frown on the bully boy tactics of the faceless bureaucrats within Fife Council - as the UK leader of the Lib Dems Sir Ming's voice will count - he can be contacted at: campbellm@parliament.uk
John MacDougall (MP for Glenrothes and Central Fife)
John is a former leader of Fife Council - so he knows how things should be done and how they were done in days gone by - John knows where the bodies are buried, if push comes to shove, and he can be contacted at: macdougallj@parliament.uk
Willie Rennie (MP for Dunfermline and West Fife)
Willie is a doughty fighter who snatched a seat for the Lib Dems right under Labour noses and in their own backyard - so he's probably a good man to have on your side in a fight, which is exactly what Fife Council employees are now involved in - Willie can be contacted at: renniew@parliament.uk
If you would like to phone or visit your MP at a local surgery, further details can be obtained from the Westminster Parliament web site at: http://www.parliament.uk/
