Council Workers Strike (4)
Looks like the council workers strike is coming to a long overdue and predictable end.
The employers have made a slightly improved offer - but ,of course, one that comes nowhere near the unions' original demand for a 5% or £1,000 across the board pay increase - whichever is the greater of the two.
The employers are now offering 3% in Year 1 (compared to 2.5% previously) and 2.5% in Year 2 (exactly the same as before). So, the 'gain' is worth an extra 0.5% - although this has been 'bought' at the expense of two days worth of strike action.
The reality is that the employers are improving the original offer - with the money they've saved - by not paying wages and pension payments to striking employees. In other words the strikers are funding the settlement themselves.
Hardly a great achievement - and one that does nothing whatsoever for the lower paid
To put things in perspective - for every £10,000 a year a council employee earns, the new deal is worth an extra £50 - then the employers revert to their original offer of a 2.5% pay increase in 2009.
But the obvious question to ask is: "Why have there been national strikes, demonstrations and all kinds of public hoo-ha - over what has come down to a 0.5% pay dispute?".
While the unions have turned a blind eye to the 30%, 40% and even 50% pay gap that's existed in councils for many years - between traditional male and female jobs.
Now that tells you all you need to know about union priorities - when it comes to equal pay.
The employers have made a slightly improved offer - but ,of course, one that comes nowhere near the unions' original demand for a 5% or £1,000 across the board pay increase - whichever is the greater of the two.
The employers are now offering 3% in Year 1 (compared to 2.5% previously) and 2.5% in Year 2 (exactly the same as before). So, the 'gain' is worth an extra 0.5% - although this has been 'bought' at the expense of two days worth of strike action.
The reality is that the employers are improving the original offer - with the money they've saved - by not paying wages and pension payments to striking employees. In other words the strikers are funding the settlement themselves.
Hardly a great achievement - and one that does nothing whatsoever for the lower paid
To put things in perspective - for every £10,000 a year a council employee earns, the new deal is worth an extra £50 - then the employers revert to their original offer of a 2.5% pay increase in 2009.
But the obvious question to ask is: "Why have there been national strikes, demonstrations and all kinds of public hoo-ha - over what has come down to a 0.5% pay dispute?".
While the unions have turned a blind eye to the 30%, 40% and even 50% pay gap that's existed in councils for many years - between traditional male and female jobs.
Now that tells you all you need to know about union priorities - when it comes to equal pay.
