Cosying Up With Employers
The Hamilton Advertiser published Alex Neil's press statement about South Lanarkshire Council behaving like a Victorian employer - see previous post dated 29 November 2010.
Predictably, South Lanarkshire rushed to its own defence - but hot on its heels came the local Unison branch - cosying up to the council like some kind of lovestruck teenager.
Here's an extract of the article from the local newspaper - which also reported Alex Neil's comments in full.
Hamilton Advertiser
"A council spokesman said this week: “The ongoing legal process around equal pay claims, which Alex Neil MSP is aware of, makes it difficult for us to comment as fully as we would like."
“However, South Lanarkshire Council was the first local authority in Scotland to achieve single status, including job evaluation."
“The council is confident in the integrity of the job evaluation scheme and we take our equality duties very seriously. Employees are involved, either directly or via their trade union, in the job evaluation process and we are unaware of any employee with an outstanding request for information.”
Stephen Smellie, secretary of South Lanarkshire’s Unison branch, took a dim view of the MSP’s comments.
He said: “It is a shame that a national politician wishes to make some political capital out of a situation of concern to many local people without actually knowing the facts.
“Whatever his view of South Lanarkshire Council, they don’t employ child chimney sweeps or send women down coal mines.
“Nor are they only council which did not use the national scheme he refers to. Nor is there a national review that can tell anyone what they should pay staff. Workers who wish to find out about these sort of things would be better speaking to their trade union.”
What the local Unison branch fails to explain is that the vast majority of councils in Scotland - used the nationally approved and recommended Job Evaluation scheme.
No other council in Scotland has behaved the same way as South Lanarkshire - which has failed to act openly and transparently - and has refused all requests to explain exactly what traditional male jobs are paid.
Predictably, South Lanarkshire rushed to its own defence - but hot on its heels came the local Unison branch - cosying up to the council like some kind of lovestruck teenager.
Here's an extract of the article from the local newspaper - which also reported Alex Neil's comments in full.
Hamilton Advertiser
"A council spokesman said this week: “The ongoing legal process around equal pay claims, which Alex Neil MSP is aware of, makes it difficult for us to comment as fully as we would like."
“However, South Lanarkshire Council was the first local authority in Scotland to achieve single status, including job evaluation."
“The council is confident in the integrity of the job evaluation scheme and we take our equality duties very seriously. Employees are involved, either directly or via their trade union, in the job evaluation process and we are unaware of any employee with an outstanding request for information.”
Stephen Smellie, secretary of South Lanarkshire’s Unison branch, took a dim view of the MSP’s comments.
He said: “It is a shame that a national politician wishes to make some political capital out of a situation of concern to many local people without actually knowing the facts.
“Whatever his view of South Lanarkshire Council, they don’t employ child chimney sweeps or send women down coal mines.
“Nor are they only council which did not use the national scheme he refers to. Nor is there a national review that can tell anyone what they should pay staff. Workers who wish to find out about these sort of things would be better speaking to their trade union.”
What the local Unison branch fails to explain is that the vast majority of councils in Scotland - used the nationally approved and recommended Job Evaluation scheme.
No other council in Scotland has behaved the same way as South Lanarkshire - which has failed to act openly and transparently - and has refused all requests to explain exactly what traditional male jobs are paid.
The trade unions clearly know - because the unions helped to negotiate the deals that favour some council jobs over others - so why don't they tell their members?
