North Lanarkshire

The recent background to the fight for equal pay in North Lanarkshire is spelled out in these previous post to the blog site.

What's noticeable to me is that MSPs raise all kinds of issues in the Scottish Parliament at First Minister's Questions (FMQs) and they make one hell of a fuss when something goes wrong in a local hospital or in some other part of the NHS.

So let's hope that MPs in North Lanarkshire start to pay more attention to what's been going on within the North Lanarkshire Council because if you ask me, thousands of low paid workers have been badly let down over equal pay.

And the people responsible are the elected councillors and senior council officials who have been running the show for the past 15 years.

Debating the Issues (3)

Here is another set of questions and issues about equal pay in North Lanarkshire Council for people to use in their discussions with local councillors, MSPs and MPs.

I would expect any politician worth his or her salt to stick up for their local constituents and the political allegiance of the Council should not be a factor - because the fight for equal pay ought to transcend party politics.  

So I hope people get stuck in and have their say and remember the whole point about proportional representation is that it allows voters a choice.  

1. How does the council justify such poor offers of settlement to former APT&C workers up to the point when job evaluation was introduced in 2006?
2. Will the Council explain and share the information about the way these offers have been calculated offers to former APT&C workers have been calculated - because they do not seem fair or reasonable which is why they have been rejected by Action 4 Equality Scotland?  
3. What were rates of pay applied to the Council's traditional male jobs (various refuse workers and gardeners) in 2013/14?
4. Why have recent changes been made to the way these jobs are paid - is the Council trying to avoid its obligations in terms of equal pay?  
5. How much money has the Council spent in fighting this case in the Glasgow Employment Tribunal and how does the North Lanarkshire justify the cost involved, given what has happened in South Lanarkshire Council? 

Keep me posted and remember your councillor, MSP or MP is not a highly paid postbox - part of their job is to have opinions on issues and make representations on behalf of local people, not just to pass on the views of North Lanarkshire Council.    

Debating the Issues 2 (15 April 2014)

Here are some additional issues that readers in North Lanarkshire might wish to raise with their local councillors, MSPs and MPs.

The key thing if you ask me is not to get fobbed off by a politician who tells you that he/she will write to the Council on your behalf because what people want to know, presumably, is where their councillor, MSP or MP stands on the issue of equal pay.

What do they actually think about developments in the Employment Tribunal and what the Council has been up to with its job evaluation scheme and new pay arrangements.

So get organised, marshall the facts and your arguments and let the politicians know that you expect them to come off the fence and stand up for the people they claim to represent. 

1. Why have traditional male jobs had their bonus earnings taken into account when these jobs were assimilated onto the new NLC pay structures (after job evaluation)
2. Surely the assimilation process has discriminated against women workers and favoured traditional male jobs by taking these bonus earnings into account?
3. Does the Council now accept that it has acted in contravention of the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement?
4. Does the Council that it has failed to observe the requirements of UK equal pay legislation?

And if people let me know how they get on, I'll share the information on the blog site.

Debating the Issues 1 (14 April 2014)

Lots of readers in North Lanarkshire have got in touch to say that they are contacting their local councillors, MSPs and MPs to discuss equal pay and recent developments at the ongoing Employment Tribunal - where the Council's case, by all accounts, is taking a terrible beating.

Now as regular readers know North Lanarkshire has been forced to concede (at the Employment Tribunal) that many key female dominated jobs have been scored and graded incorrectly, despite denying this to be so for years - going back to 2006 in fact.

So here are some points that readers may wish to raise with local politicians  because there's no doubt that in my mind that the council's workforce and the wider public deserve a proper explanation 

1. How could these 'mistakes' possibly have happened?
2. How does the Council explain being in 'denial' for so many years? 
3. Who is being held to account for the mess the Council has made of equal pay?
4. How and when will these various jobs (such as Home Support Workers) now be regraded properly?
5. How can the workforce have any confidence in senior managers who have been saying for years that the Job Evaluation scores are correct?
6. Is an investigation underway and will disciplinary action being taken against any of the senior managers involved for not doing their jobs properly and failing to protect the interests of the workforce? 

I will draw up some additional questions on other topics as well, but if readers have their own suggestions drop me a note and I'll share these on the blog site.