The Dunce's Cap

I was touched yesterday when I read a story about the trade unions - bravely riding to the rescue of Labour-run North Lanarkshire Council - one of the largest councils in Scotland.

In case readers missed the row, Alex Neil - a Scottish Government minister and SNP MSP - gave the council a bit of a kicking - describing it as 'bloated' and 'barely fit for purpose'.

Specifically Alex Neil is quoted as saying that the council was badgering people on the lowest of incomes, that the council's education department was over-staffed - and that the council was  letting homes that were not in a proper state for families to live in.

Now I suspect these claims are largely true - if stated a little starkly - with one eye on the forthcoming council elections in May 2012.

But they drew a furious response from the Labour-run and touchingly from the trade unions - who immediately leapt to the council's defence.

So let me get my tuppence worth in - because I can say 'hand on heart' that when it comes to equal pay - North Lanarkshire is one of the worst councils in Scotland.

Action 4 Equality Scotland has over 2,500 equal pay cases still running against North Lanarkshire - which has still to make any offer of settlement to former APT&C workers - or male workers.

Compared to other councils which settled these case long ago - Edinburgh City Council for example.

Here's what I said about North Lanarkshire Council back in March 2010 and it seems like some of these chickens are coming home to roost.

But the bottom line is that the relationship between the Labour-run council - and the Labour-supporting trade unions - stinks to high heaven.

North Lanarkshire Council (March 3rd 2010)

Came across this previous post on North Lanarkshire while looking through the blog site archive - thought it might remind readers just how badly they've been treated - by both the council and the trade unions.

North Lanarkshire Council

All of Scotland's 32 local councils have behaved appallingly over equal pay, but undoubtedly the Dunce's Cap should be awarded jointly to the management and trade unions in North Lanarkshire Council.

First of all, the council agreed a Job Evaluation scheme with the trade unions, but then they both refused to share the details with the workforce. So, exactly how were staff expected to have any confidence in the outcome, especially if they could not see or understand the scores and how the new grading structure rewarded different groups of workers?

Maybe they were supposed to to take it on trust from the same people who had kept them in the dark for all those years.

Then the council put the scheme to the workforce in a democratic ballot - a wizard idea supported by the best brains amongst the unions. However, things did not go according to plan and to the enormous shock of the council and the unions, the ordinary union members very sensibly voted the package down - and by an absolutely overwhelming majority.

Next the council made one-off 'buy-out' offers to sections of the workforce - some but not all of the manual workers - although these compensation payments were just about the lowest across the whole of Scotland (for Home Carers especially), and simply added insult to injury.

Soon afterwards, the council decided just to ignore the workforce ballot that it was so keen to hold only a few months before - on the basis that it would impose the new pay and grading structure by issuing staff with new contracts of employment. Many people on the ground believe this was done with the unions tacit approval because the unions certainly did little to stop the council in its tracks.

Needless to say, the unions went along with the general strategy and effectively did the council's dirty work by failing to give their members proper advice or support at crucial times - which is why so many of them decided to pursue and equal pay claim with Action 4 Equality and Stefan Cross.

Now, as so often happens in life, things have come full circle and finally, if very belatedly, the unions have at last seen the error of their ways. Unison is now advising members of their rights to take up an equal pay claim - albeit 7 years too late.

A letter from the local Unison branch secretary dated 2 February 2007 advises members that they have 6 months from 6 November 2006 (the date of the new North Lanarkshire contract) to register an equal pay claim.

The letter is not terribly enthusiastic, it has to be said, and deliberately puts the onus on individual members to decide whether they have an equal pay claim - instead of the union explaining the size and nature of the pay gap with the men - which the unions' know fine well because they negotiated these pay agreements with North Lanarkshire Council.

Instead of offering leadership, advice and practical help the letter goes on to detail a long and bureaucratic procedure for members to follow in submitting a claim, which seems designed to make life difficult for ordinary members with no experience of dealing with such issues.

However, this letter simply begs the question:

"Why did the Unison North Lanarkshire Branch not issue this advice to members in 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004. 2005 and 2006?"

The unions failure to act has cost its low paid members dearly - and that's why so many are now suing for the money they've lost through their unions negligence and incompetence.

In addition, many hundreds of workers either left or retired from the North Lanarkshire Council during the past 8 years. Sadly, these individuals have lost the right to register an equal pay claim because of the 6 month time limit."