Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

The Ghosts of Christmas Past are about to pay a visit to Glasgow City Council - and there's no doubt who's being cast in the role of Scrooge! Action 4 Equality and Stefan Cross are about to challenge the Compromise Agreement that around 12,000 employees were forced to sign in 2005 - just to get their hands on their own money. The council described this at the time as a one-off compensation payment, but now their bad behaviour is coming back to haunt them. In the run up to Christmas 2005 - the timing being very deliberate, of course - council employees were put under enormous pressure to sign this legal document known as a Compromise Agreement. The 'agreement', in our view, was a very one-sided affair and not a real meeting of the minds - because the people forced to sign it could not appreciate the significance of what they were doing - without proper advice and support. So, many of the council's lowest paid employees lost thousands of pounds in the process - some

Falkirk's Pre -Hearing Review concluded on Wednesday 19 March 2008 (see post dated 13 March). From our point of view everything went extremely well and all our witnesses gave an excellent account of themselves. The council reorganised the home care service without carrying out a proper re-evaluation of people's jobs - nor did they treat any of the male groups of workers in the same fashion. The council's says this was (and still is) perfectly fine - we completely disagree , and believe the council's treatment of the home carers was unfair and discriminatory. The tribunal reserved its judgment - so we won't know the outcome for another couple of weeks or so - but as soon as we do, we will obviously let people know.

A Pre Hearing Review (PHR) with Falkirk Council gets under way next week - Monday 17 March. We are challenging the way in which the home care service was reorganised in 2002 - because this was done with a proper re-evaluation of people's jobs - and as required by their conditions of service. This reorganisation created various levels of home care posts - beyond the one national core job (paid at Manual Worker 5) that had existed up until that point. The problem is that the changes were introduced without considering the skills levels and responsibilities of these jobs - as required by the 1999 Single Status Agreement. So, in effect, the council just ignored the rules about treating all employees equally - and changed the pay arrangements for female home carers - while completely ignoring the fact that many traditional male jobs (with less skill and responsibility ) continued to be much better paid - see post dated 9 January re male bonus earnings in Falkirk . To add insult to

Our campaign to flush out key pay information about North Lanarkshire Council (see post dated 8 March) is only a few days old - but already there's been a terrific response. One caller asked where to send details in the post - the best bet at the moment is the Stefan Cross office in Newcastle, as follows: Stefan Cross Solicitors (North Lanarkshire - Pay Information) Buddle House Buddle Road Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE4 8AW If you mark the envelope: (North Lanarkshire - Pay Information) it will whizz through the system in record time. Alternatively, I am happy to drop by and pick anything up that seems particularly useful - to make an arrangement leave a message on the voice mail at 0131 667 7956 or drop me a note by e-mail at: markirvine@compuserve.com

South Lanarkshire is up to its old tricks on the subject of grievances - see post dated 24 February 2008. Individual clients have recently submitted hundreds of letters to the council: Confirming that people do indeed understand their grievances Asking the council to explain why groups of predominantly male jobs are so much better paid Inviting the council to meet with Stefan Cross Solicitors to discuss terms of settlement Instead of answering the points put to them - openly and candidly - the council is pretending it doesn't understand the question and/or that it requires more information to respond. The reality is that South Lanarkshire is playing games - of course they understand the question and they can easily provide the answers - many other councils (of all hues and colours) have already. The question is what do various groups of traditional male jobs get paid in South Lanarkshire? For example, a council refuse driver? And how does South Lanarkshire justify the big differenc

North Lanarkshire is one of the few remaining councils that's still trying desperately to keep under wraps the details of big bonus payments paid to traditional male jobs - such as refuse workers and gardeners. Most other councils provided this information long ago - on a voluntary basis - because it's one of the worst kept secrets in the world that these male jobs are paid around £10 or £11 per hour - while the majority of women's jobs are paid only £6 or £7 per hour. Even though the jobs of carers, cooks, cleaners, learning assistants, admin and clerical staff etc. - carry much more skill and responsibility, they are paid far less than their male colleagues. Glasgow, Edinburgh, Falkirk and West Lothian councils (to name but a few) have all put their hands up and admitted what is blindingly obvious - that female dominated jobs have been undervalued and underpaid for years compared to many traditional male jobs. The post dated 8 January 2008 - regarding bonus payments in Fa

We've had lots of calls from employees in South Lanarkshire Council in the past few weeks. Here's a brief summary of what people have been calling about: Is it too late to register an equal pay claim? No, it's not too late - but the sooner people do so the better - because the five year back pay claim is triggered only when a case is registered - then the claim starts adding time on (going forward). So, you are losing out by sitting on the fence. Won't everyone benefit when South Lanarkshire finally admits defeat? No, definitely not - only those employees who have registered a claim will get any back pay - anyone sitting on the sidelines - waiting to see what happens - won't get a single penny. Do male workers have a claim? Yes, those in predominantly female jobs (carers, catering workers and cleaners - for example) have exactly the same claim as their colleagues. What about school janitors? Yes, some predominantly male groups will still have a claim - although it r

A strange rumour has been doing the rounds in Edinburgh - and like most of these rumours it's completely untrue! Apparently, people are being told that Action 4 Equality and Stefan Cross are not pursuing any new claims against the council - no doubt this is being put about by the same forces (amongst the employers and trade unions) that kept the workforce in the dark about equal pay for years. Well the good news is that it's nonsense - complete nonsense. We are still happy to take up new claims - and the reality is that new clients join up every day - both in Edinburgh and elsewhere. Because there are plenty of council employees who still don't realise that they have a substantial equal pay claim - classroom assistants, admin & clerical workers, social care workers, nursery nurses and such like. Employees in these groups have never been made an offer by Edinburgh City Council - so far at least - but they have just as good a claim as everyone else - because for years the