MSPs, Baloney and Equal Pay
The first rule about dealing with MSPs - on equal pay or anything else - is to be prepared and get your point across.
Politicians are just like everyone else - some are as sharp as a tack, speak plainly and do exactly what they say they will do - others try and fob you off with a load of old baloney
So, if you're approaching your MSP for a discussion on equal pay - don't be taken in by party propaganda - get your facts and arguments together then argue your corner forcefully.
Here's an e-mail from Michael McMahon MSP to an Action 4 Equality Scotland reader in North Lanarkshire.
Now Michael McMahon is an experienced MSP - but he's either remarkably ill-informed for an opposition spokesperson - or he just can't help looking at issues from a partisan point of view.
The reality is that the unions in North Lanarkshire were part of the problem - lining up alongside council management - keeping their women members in the dark - before encouraging them to accept very poor settlement offers.
Also the unions have a small number of cases in North Lanarkshire - so why numerous discussions with them and not Action 4 Equality Scotland - who represent the great majority of clients?
Michael then agrees that councils should have resolved equal pay a long time ago - in fact their budgets effectively doubled over the ten years to 2007.
But Michael can't resist blaming the situation on the current government (which is SNP, of course) - instead of pointing the finger where it belongs - at North Lanarkshire (which is and has been Labour controlled for years).
Michael's area also covers part of South Lanarkshire Council - where the unions are not pursuing a single equal pay claim - so what will he make of that situation, if constituents' ask for his support?
South Lanarkshire is a Labour led council - which is refusing to publish basic pay information about traditional male jobs - even though North Lanarkshire Council (just across the M8) - published these details years ago.
Will MSPs like Michael McMahon will condemn this behaviour? Because it is about concealing the truth - while thumbing its knows at the Scottish Parliament's Freedom of Information legislation.
So, if you're discussing equal pay with your MSP - be polite and stay calm - but don't accept a load of old baloney for an answer.
"Dear Colleague
I am very much aware of this issue and have taken part in debates in the Parliament and held numerous discussions with local authority trade unions in relation to the matter.
Unfortunately it is a fact that a resolution to this issue rests with each individual Council following discussions with the appropriate trades unions, although the Scottish Parliament has the responsibility for ensuring that the Scottish Government provides the necessary resources for agreements to be met.
Council's should have settled this matter a long time ago but most failed to do so in spite of having been provided with additional resources from the previous Scottish Executive for that purpose. Councils which failed to find a solution to the problem during that time now have an even more difficult challenge in addressing the issue.
The recent Scottish Government's poor budget settlement has seen local authority funding squeezed and this is making the problem worse.Unison recently produced figures which show that there is a shortfall of £305m in the coming financial year which they predict will result in the loss of over 3000 local authority jobs across Scotland..
This exacerbates the problem caused by the Scottish Government's failure to provide additional funding for equal pay settlements in its local authority finance settlements for the past three years.
I think that it is significant and regrettable that John Swinney MSP, the Finance Secretary, has so far refused requests from trade unions and opposition parties to facilitate discussions with local authorities aimed at progressing this matter.
I appreciate that the politics of this is not your problem and that you will only be interested in seeing low paid workers properly paid for the valuable work that they do.
I believe that the buck passing has gone on for far too long and can assure you that as Scottish Labour's spokesperson on Local Government I have the resolution of this issue very high on my agenda and will be pressing Council's to resolve outstanding equal pay issues as soon as possible..
I hope that this response is of some value to you.
Kind Regards
Michael McMahon MSP (Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Local Government) "
Politicians are just like everyone else - some are as sharp as a tack, speak plainly and do exactly what they say they will do - others try and fob you off with a load of old baloney
So, if you're approaching your MSP for a discussion on equal pay - don't be taken in by party propaganda - get your facts and arguments together then argue your corner forcefully.
Here's an e-mail from Michael McMahon MSP to an Action 4 Equality Scotland reader in North Lanarkshire.
Now Michael McMahon is an experienced MSP - but he's either remarkably ill-informed for an opposition spokesperson - or he just can't help looking at issues from a partisan point of view.
The reality is that the unions in North Lanarkshire were part of the problem - lining up alongside council management - keeping their women members in the dark - before encouraging them to accept very poor settlement offers.
Also the unions have a small number of cases in North Lanarkshire - so why numerous discussions with them and not Action 4 Equality Scotland - who represent the great majority of clients?
Michael then agrees that councils should have resolved equal pay a long time ago - in fact their budgets effectively doubled over the ten years to 2007.
But Michael can't resist blaming the situation on the current government (which is SNP, of course) - instead of pointing the finger where it belongs - at North Lanarkshire (which is and has been Labour controlled for years).
Michael's area also covers part of South Lanarkshire Council - where the unions are not pursuing a single equal pay claim - so what will he make of that situation, if constituents' ask for his support?
South Lanarkshire is a Labour led council - which is refusing to publish basic pay information about traditional male jobs - even though North Lanarkshire Council (just across the M8) - published these details years ago.
Will MSPs like Michael McMahon will condemn this behaviour? Because it is about concealing the truth - while thumbing its knows at the Scottish Parliament's Freedom of Information legislation.
So, if you're discussing equal pay with your MSP - be polite and stay calm - but don't accept a load of old baloney for an answer.
"Dear Colleague
I am very much aware of this issue and have taken part in debates in the Parliament and held numerous discussions with local authority trade unions in relation to the matter.
Unfortunately it is a fact that a resolution to this issue rests with each individual Council following discussions with the appropriate trades unions, although the Scottish Parliament has the responsibility for ensuring that the Scottish Government provides the necessary resources for agreements to be met.
Council's should have settled this matter a long time ago but most failed to do so in spite of having been provided with additional resources from the previous Scottish Executive for that purpose. Councils which failed to find a solution to the problem during that time now have an even more difficult challenge in addressing the issue.
The recent Scottish Government's poor budget settlement has seen local authority funding squeezed and this is making the problem worse.Unison recently produced figures which show that there is a shortfall of £305m in the coming financial year which they predict will result in the loss of over 3000 local authority jobs across Scotland..
This exacerbates the problem caused by the Scottish Government's failure to provide additional funding for equal pay settlements in its local authority finance settlements for the past three years.
I think that it is significant and regrettable that John Swinney MSP, the Finance Secretary, has so far refused requests from trade unions and opposition parties to facilitate discussions with local authorities aimed at progressing this matter.
I appreciate that the politics of this is not your problem and that you will only be interested in seeing low paid workers properly paid for the valuable work that they do.
I believe that the buck passing has gone on for far too long and can assure you that as Scottish Labour's spokesperson on Local Government I have the resolution of this issue very high on my agenda and will be pressing Council's to resolve outstanding equal pay issues as soon as possible..
I hope that this response is of some value to you.
Kind Regards
Michael McMahon MSP (Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Local Government) "
