Fairness at Work

As public spending decisions in Scotland come under ever greater scrutiny - one question we should all be asking is: 'Why do we have a two-tier workforce in Scottish councils?'

Why do some groups enjoy longer holidays or preferential pension arrangements - compared to others?

For example, a 'final salary' pension scheme is designed to benefit council workers in higher paid jobs - people whose salaries benefit from a long incremental scale and who have a good chance of promotion during their working lives.

Yet instead of recognising these arrangements as unfair and discriminatory - teachers and other groups have been taking industrial action to defend  a situation which is all about creating a two-tier workforce - one where some workers are more equal than others.  

I've written lots of posts and articles about the McCrone Agreement over the years - some for the blog site and others for newspapers.

But the fact of the matter is that the Scotland's councils are spending over £800 million every year on a pay and conditions package for teachers - with little to show, if anything, in terms of real improvements to Scottish education.

Now what would I feel about that if I were a front-line worker in another part of a council where jobs are being shed - some in large numbers.

I would be very angry about the choices Scottish councils have made over the years - over their decisions to pursue the wrong priorities at a time when budgets were doubling in size between 1997 and 2007.

Here's a previous post from the blog site - which helps to put the costs and implications of the McCrone Agreement into some perspective.    

Think of the Children (29 October 2010)

Scottish Ministers appear to be showing interest, albeit belatedly in the suggestion that the McCrone Agreement should be revisited - as a way of protecting schools and children from the worst effects of budget cuts.

The McCrone Agreement was introduced ten years ago - and governs the pay and conditions of Scottish teachers.

Education Minister - Michael Russell - has apparently told the Scottish Parliament’s education committee it is time - for the 2001 McCrone deal to be 'revisited' - which is a very interesting development.

Mr Russell said: “I am not going to start that negotiating process in public, but one thing is absolutely clear; there are very substantial financial pressures that are coming on Scotland’s local authorities and education is 40% of the costs of those local authorities and salaries are 50% of that.

Earlier this year, Councillor Gordon Matheson - leader of Glasgow City Council - wrote to Mr Russell asking him to reopen the McCrone agreement - which guarantees teachers more than 12 hours a week on preparation.

Mr Matheson suggested increasing the amount of time teachers spend teaching by 30 minutes a day – at the expense of preparation time – would save Glasgow £15 million annually and prevent cuts to frontline education services.

The cost of the McCrone Agreement was estimated at £800 million in the year 2001 - with that sum being built into council's base budget in successive years.

So the same Scottish councils that complain about the costs of equal pay - clearly had plenty of money to deliver a costly new pay and conditions package for teachers.

'Fairness at work' is a principle that should apply right across the whole workforce - not just for elite or selective groups.