Pay Battle - Confusion Reigns
Unison is currently balloting members in Scotland over plans to strike in support of a pay claim - union leaders having already rejected a 2.5% offer from the employers - for each of the next three years.
Meanwhile, the pay campaign has delivered a nightmare result south of the border - as Unison members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland voted to support industrial action by a narrow margin of 55% to 45%.
But what the Unison press statement fails to mention - surprise, surprise - is the low turnout of only 27%. So almost three quarters of the members didn't even bother to vote - out of the total local government membership of 600,00.
But, the key point is that less than 90,000 members have voted in favour of industrial action - with over 500,000 (85%) voting against or voting with their feet by not taking part. In other walks of life this would rightly be seen as the tail wagging the dog - as opposed to a mandate for manning the barricades.
Back in Scotland, nerves are fraying - as the phoney war continues and the combatants square up to each other. Unison has accused COSLA (the employers organisation) of cancelling a scheduled negotiating meeting - in retaliation union members are going to vent their spleen by lobbying the employers (who won't be there anyway) in order to teach the scoundrels a lesson.
Confused? You soon will be!
Because the employers side is trying to pour oil on troubled waters - with COSLA spokesperson Joe Di Paola telling the press: "The unions will have to bring a sense of realism to their claim."
The irony is that, until recently, Joe was on the other side of the fence - acting as the Unison spokesperson on the annual pay negotiations and equal pay - leading a doomed national strike on behalf of nursery nurses - and generally urging the employers to meet the reasonable demands of serious minded union negotiators.
Now if this were to be made into a movie, what would a good title be? My own suggestion is: "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World!"
Meanwhile, the pay campaign has delivered a nightmare result south of the border - as Unison members in England, Wales and Northern Ireland voted to support industrial action by a narrow margin of 55% to 45%.
But what the Unison press statement fails to mention - surprise, surprise - is the low turnout of only 27%. So almost three quarters of the members didn't even bother to vote - out of the total local government membership of 600,00.
But, the key point is that less than 90,000 members have voted in favour of industrial action - with over 500,000 (85%) voting against or voting with their feet by not taking part. In other walks of life this would rightly be seen as the tail wagging the dog - as opposed to a mandate for manning the barricades.
Back in Scotland, nerves are fraying - as the phoney war continues and the combatants square up to each other. Unison has accused COSLA (the employers organisation) of cancelling a scheduled negotiating meeting - in retaliation union members are going to vent their spleen by lobbying the employers (who won't be there anyway) in order to teach the scoundrels a lesson.
Confused? You soon will be!
Because the employers side is trying to pour oil on troubled waters - with COSLA spokesperson Joe Di Paola telling the press: "The unions will have to bring a sense of realism to their claim."
The irony is that, until recently, Joe was on the other side of the fence - acting as the Unison spokesperson on the annual pay negotiations and equal pay - leading a doomed national strike on behalf of nursery nurses - and generally urging the employers to meet the reasonable demands of serious minded union negotiators.
Now if this were to be made into a movie, what would a good title be? My own suggestion is: "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad, World!"
