Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

Scotland’s equality watchdog (The Equality and Human Rights Commission) has launched a formal investigation into whether Glasgow City Council has acted in breach of the Equal Pay Act 1970. This is a major development and is the first formal investigation into local government pay in the UK. The Commission is embarking on an investigation because it has grounds to suspect that Glasgow City Council has acted in breach of the Equal Pay Act in developing and implementing its Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR). The Commission intends to 1. Identify the grades and all associated rates of pay for men and women – prior to the introduction of WPBR in September 2006 2. Identify the grades and all associated rates of pay for men and women – after the implementation of WPBR (as at 31 October 2008). 3. Use this information to determine whether male jobs have received more favourable treatment Welcoming the announcement, Mark Irvine said: “The Commission is to be congratulated for taking this ...

The GMF hearing involving Fife Council is getting underway next Monday (30 March 2009), as planned, but this is now taking place at the Employment Tribunal office in Dundee, details of which are: Dundee Employment Tribunal Office Ground Floor Block C Caledonian House Greenmarket Dundee DD1 4QX Hearings normally begin at around 10am until 1pm - and then again from 2pm until 4pm - but times can vary. Hearings are held in public - so anyone can attend - but if you do go along, introduce yourself to Carol Fox who will be there on behalf of Stefan Cross Solicitors.

GMB Scotland is the latest trade union to attack Stefan Cross – they have written to all their members with a lot of alarmist stories about unenforceable contracts – and why don’t people just let the GMB handle their equal pay claim. Now, you might ask why the GMB wasn't busy writing letters to all of its members in Scotland years ago – explaining the size of the pay gap between male and female workers? And that’s because the GMB was not really interested in equal pay – until Action 4 Equality Scotland and Stefan Cross came along. So, now they’re mad at Stefan Cross for making the GMB appear flat-footed and far too cosy with the council employers – hence the reason for their latest letter. But there’s really nothing to get excited or anxious about – everyone who has a claim that is already registered with Stefan Cross can safely ignore the GMB’s letter and its belated offer of help.

Present Position 16) Most of Scotland’s councils have now introduced new (Single Status) pay and grading structures following a local job evaluation (JE) exercise, as required by the 1999 Red Book national agreement. Edinburgh and Midlothian are two councils where the JE exercise is still outstanding, but in the meantime other difficulties have come to the fore. 17) Glasgow City Council and South Lanarkshire Councils have both introduced their own ‘in-house’ JE schemes whose provenance and implementation is at odds with the nationally recommended (Gauge) scheme. Glasgow’s JE scheme rewards full-time workers over part-time workers, who are largely women, while South Lanarkshire has claimed that its scheme was externally validated by the EOC – but external scrutiny by the EOC never took place. 18) The implementation of job evaluation has also caused a great controversy in other areas. North Lanarkshire Council balloted the workforce on its proposals, but the council implemented their sch...

1999 Onwards 10) Having adopted its own Single Status Agreement in 1999, the trade unions and council employers had committed themselves to a timetable of 3 years for introducing a completely new and non-discriminatory Job Evaluation scheme. 11) The proposed vehicle for this task (Gauge) was a bespoke JE scheme, one chosen deliberately and only after the employers spent £250,000 of public money road testing the scheme to ensure it was fit for purpose. All 32 Scottish councils supported the Red Book national agreement and development of the Gauge JE scheme – with larger councils paying more on a per capita (employee) basis. 12) The Gauge scheme was based on clear, transparent principles and agreed to adopt the Code of Good Practice from the Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC), as well as rigorous statistical techniques for analysing and assessing pay outcomes – i.e. the ‘before’ and ‘after’ pay outcomes in terms of key male and female job groups. 13) For reasons only the employers’ can...

Following our recent series of meetings – what’s fast becoming clear is that many male workers in South Lanarkshire Council are getting a raw deal – not just the female workers. Why? Because according to many of the men – there are actually two categories of male council worker in South Lanarkshire: 1. Those employed before Single Status was introduced in April 2004 2. Those that joined the council after Single Status in April 2004 What the men say is that the male workers in post before Single Status – had their old bonus related earnings preserved on a personal basis – permanently – and without limit of time. Now this would explain why two male workers doing exactly the same job – can end up on very different rates of pay. Or, worse still – why many lower graded male workers get paid more than their higher graded colleagues – simply because they were already working for the council in 2004. So, in South Lanarkshire – all men are equal - it’s just that some are more equal than others....

Background 1) The right to equal pay is enshrined in the Equal Pay Act 1970, but almost 40 years later the pay gap between traditional male and female jobs is still huge (22% on average) - even in the public sector where trade union organisation is relatively strong. Clearly, something is badly wrong and has been for many years. 2) During the 1970’s and 80’s some progress was made in tackling the problem. In 1987/88 a new job evaluation (JE) scheme was introduced in local government which aimed to give many female dominated jobs a better deal. 3) The scheme was restricted to manual workers only, but many predominantly female jobs benefited – for the first time a Home Carer or Cook, for example, was placed on a higher basic grade than a Refuse Collector – MW 5 compared to MW 2 for the male job. 4) But the manual workers JE scheme did not address the issue of hidden bonuses, paid only to male jobs and often worth 50% or more on top of their basic pay. So, while it looked as if the Home C...

Direct and Care staff in Glasgow continue to report that managers are putting people under pressure to accept changes in their contracts – before the TUPE transfer to Cordia goes ahead in April 2009. See previous posts dated 1 and 5 March. Our advice is very simple and to the point: Don’t give in to Direct and Care Managers can’t impose these changes – no matter what they say. If they approach you – insist they put their request in writing. Keep a note of what managers say at any meetings you attend. Insist on your right to be accompanied – by a work colleague or union rep. Insist managers put their request on the record – that way it can’t be denied at a later date. The TUPE Regulations mean that your existing contract has to be transferred across to Cordia intact. It is unlawful for either Direct and Care or Cordia to interfere with your existing contract. Contact your trade union for help – insist that the union gets involved to protect your interests. Make it clear you will complai...

Glasgow City Council seems to be coming round to Action 4 Equality Scotland’s way of thinking – by agreeing (albeit belatedly) - that many jobs done by female workers are undervalued and underpaid. Steven Purcell, the council leader, announced a pay increase for at least some of the council’s lowest paid workers – but chose the Scottish Labour party conference to break the news. So, what’s going on? Mr Purcell says that it is ‘unacceptable’ that almost one in five of Glasgow's workers are paid less than £7 an hour. The council can only enforce the new minimum wage on staff it directly employs, but Mr Purcell hopes that other employers in the city will follow suit. The council intends to work with employers in the public, private and voluntary sector to encourage them to pay low-paid workers a decent wage – apparently. The council says that the pay increase will apply to around 681 employees – which is all rather odd – because there must be a lot more than 681workers in the council ...

Yesterday (Wednesday 11 March), Action 4 Equality Scotland gave detailed evidence on Equal Pay - to the Local Government and Communities Committee of the Scottish Parliament. We plan to post our written evidence on the Action 4 Equality Scotland blog site - but as it runs to 5 pages, we will do this in installments over the next week or so - to make it easier for people to read Action 4 Equality Scotland's evidence was well received by MSP's - and we intend to follow this up in further discussions - locally and nationally. We are also happy to send our written evidence to any of our readers - who would like to request a copy by e-mail. If so, drop a note to Mark Irvine at: markirvine@compuserve.com

A GMF hearing involving Glasgow City Council gets underway next week – and is scheduled for 10 days - this is a public hearing and Glasgow claimants are welcome to attend. The hearing is taking place at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal Office (details below) which is 10 minutes walk from Central Station – west along Bothwell Street towards Finnieston. Glasgow Employment Tribunal Office Eagle Building 215 Bothwell Street Glasgow G2 7TS Phone: 0141 204 0730 Fax: 0141 204 0732 Email: glasgowet@ets.gsi.gov.uk It’s not possible to predict things accurately in advance – but the Stefan Cross evidence is likely to be heard in Week 1 – i.e. during week beginning Monday 16 March 2009. Tribunal hearings normally run from 10am to 1pm and from 2pm to 4.30pm – but if you want to sit in on the hearing, you don’t need to stay for the whole day’s session. Anyone attending should make themselves known to Carol Fox who will be there on behalf of Stefan Cross Solicitors.

Schools have a hierarchy when it comes to pay – just like any other workplace. The Head Teacher is at the top – and the bottom rung of the pay ladder is always occupied by the school cleaner – normally a woman on part-time hours. In between a variety of jobs exist – some better paid than others - but there is always some kind of rationale to explain who gets what and why. So, a support worker is always paid less than a teacher – for example. But what about the pay hierarchy amongst support workers – the non-teaching staff – how does that work? Very oddly – like a lot of things in South Lanarkshire. For example - a School Janitor which used to be (before Single Status) a predominantly male, Manual Worker Grade 5 job – gets paid up to SCP 33 = £9.37 an hour (at 2007/08 rates). Yet a Classroom Assistant or School Secretary is paid between SCP 1 – 25 = £5.81 to £8.31 an hour (again at 2007/08 rates). Even a Team Leader gets paid less than the School Janitor – because their pay scale only g...

Unison has written to a number of Stefan Cross clients in Midlothian Council – in a desperate effort to persuade them to jump ship - and allow the union’s lawyers (Thompsons Solicitors) to handle their equal pay claims. Our advice is not to touch this ‘offer’ with a bargepole – because things could get very messy. Because lawyers and their agents (in this case Unison) are not allowed under The Law of Society Scotland rules to tout for business – by trying to poach clients who already have legal representation in place. And clearly this is what Unison is doing – so it could all end badly, in tears. But the real reason for telling Unison to sling its hook - is that the union can’t be trusted when it comes to equal pay. Why? 1. Because Unison is just a guilty as the employers are – for keeping women workers in the dark for so many years - about bonus payments and the big pay gap with male jobs. 2. Because Unison has encouraged low paid members to accept poor settlement offers from employe...

We’ve received lots of helpful feedback from the post dated 4 March 2009 – Snakes and Ladders in South Lanarkshire - here are some more eye opening facts and figures. The following council jobs are done mainly by women: Cleaner (MW 1) Catering Assistant (MW 2) Escort (MW 3) Day Care Assistant (MW 3) These jobs were all placed on Manual Worker grades 1 - 3 by the old job evaluation (JE) scheme that existed prior to South Lanarkshire’s ‘in-house’ Single Status exercise, which is unlike any other council in Scotland. Here are some well-known male jobs that were also graded at MW 1-3 under the old JE scheme. Car Park Attendant (MW 1) Road Sweeper (MW 1) Refuse Collector (MW 2) Gardener (MW 3) Gravedigger (MW 3) Road Worker (MW 3) But let’s see how these different jobs fared under South Lanarkshire’s in-house pay and grading scheme (all pay rates are shown at 2007/08 rates): Female dominated jobs Cleaner (SCP 1 = £5.81 per hour) Catering Assistant (SCP 5-8 = £6.17 to £6.45 per hour) Escort ...

Glasgow readers have been in touch about the planned transfer of Direct and Care employees to Cordia - see post dated 1 March 2009. Apparently, parts of the workforce are being asked to reduce the hours that they currently work - in return for which the council will compensate people for their 'lost' hours - in some kind of crazy, ill-defined 'buy-out' scheme. Sounds mad - but then lots of mad things happen in Glasgow these days. In any event, the position is quite clear under the TUPE regulations - all contracts must transfer intact to the incoming employer - in this case Cordia. In turn, Cordia must respect people's contracts of employment - the company cannot tear them up or start interfering with contractual terms that have been agreed with Direct and Care. Otherwise Glasgow city council's newest arm's length company will fall foul of the TUPE regulations - which are there to protect the interests of the workforce. All of these issues should, of course, ...

Our recent meetings in South Lanarkshire have produced lots of interesting feedback from council employees. Here are a couple of some well known council jobs done mainly by women: Cook in Charge (MW 5) and Home Carer (MW 5) Both of these female jobs were graded at Manual Worker 5 (MW5) under the old, pre-Single Status job evaluation (JE) scheme. The old JE scheme was discredited because it failed to take any account of the bonus earnings of the male jobs – everyone agreed that it badly undervalued the content of many female jobs. Because even though the women’s jobs had a higher grade – they were actually paid much less than the men - because of hidden bonus payments to the male jobs. Single Status and a new non-discriminatory JE scheme were supposed to put an end to this nonsense – and give the women a fairer deal. Here are some typical male dominated council jobs - along with their old Manual Worker grades: Gravedigger (MW 3) Road Worker (MW3/4) Gardener ((MW 4) Refuse Driver (MW 4) ...

A thought occurred since re-reading the Sunday Herald report about the shenanigans at one of Glasgow City Council's new arm's length companies - City Building. How come the Managing Director (Willie Docherty) gets paid £150,000 a year - when the Chief Executive of Glasgow City Council draws a salary of £158,000 a year? What explains the £8,000 difference - is City Building underpaying or overpaying its boss - and how was this rather generous salary determined? Because the council chief executive clearly has a bigger job - with a wide range of services and much greater responsibility - than the head honcho at City Building, which has only 2,200 employees. Yet Willie Docherty (MD) is paid nearly as much as the top man at Scotland's largest council - which has more than ten times the number of staff at City Building. Something wrong somewhere - surely! The Sunday Herald also carried an advert yesterday for a new chief executive at North Ayrshire Council - with a salary of £12...

No sooner do we raise concerns about Glasgow’s new Direct and Care company (Cordia) – than a fascinating article appears in the Sunday Herald newspaper. City Building was set up as a new arm’s length company in 2006 – from what was previously the council’s Housing DLO (Direct Labour Organisation). But according to the Sunday Herald, City Building has become mired in a cronyism row after it appointed Scottish Labour's former general secretary (Lesley Quinn) to a newly-created senior management post. The newspaper report goes on: “Willie Docherty, its £150,000-a-year managing director, is married to Sadie Docherty, a Glasgow Labour councillor. He is a member of the Glasgow South Labour party and an ally of Steven Purcell, the Labour leader of Glasgow City Council. Senior staff at the quango, which employs 2200 people in the construction trade and has a turnover of more than £150 million, are paid at least £50,000, according to its annual accounts. One Labour source said: "Lesley...

As readers know (see posts dated 2 and 11 February 2009), Glasgow City Council is planning to transfer 9,000 employees from Direct and Care Services into a new arm’s length company – to be known as Cordia. The transfer is due to go ahead on 1 April 2009 – but what people may be surprised to learn about are some of the ambitious assumptions that underpin Cordia’s business plan. First of all, the new company is banking on savings of 2.5% in Years 2 and 3 – which have to be found from council budgets passed on to Cordia from Direct and Care. So, a cut of 5.0% over three years has already been built into the base budget. But to make matters worse – much worse, potentially – Cordia’s business plan also assumes that turnover will grow by 6% over 3 years – increasing from £151,691,000 in 2009/10 to £160,124,000 in 2011/2012 (largely from generating new income). A hugely ambitious growth forecast in the present circumstances – especially when you stop to think that the UK economy is in the wor...