North Lanarkshire Update
I wrote the following North Lanarkshire Update at the weekend, but since then the position has changed again with Digby Brown now advising GMB members:
North Lanarkshire Council
Second Wave
We have lodged an amendment which is being opposed by the Council. We have intimated further comments to the Employment Tribunal and await their decision on whether or not the amendment will be allowed. It may be that a hearing will be assigned to discuss this.
So it looks as if there has not been a further verbal agreement between the union and the Council although GMB members in North Lanarkshire are mightily confused, understandably so I would say.
A kind reader from North Lanarkshire has shared with me the following statement which appeared out of the blue on the Digby Brown web site on Friday (21 August) - Digby Brown being the firm of solicitors that the GMB uses in relation to equal pay and the Employment Tribunals.
North Lanarkshire Council
Second Wave
We can now confirm that a verbal agreement has been agreed between North Lanarkshire Council and the GMB union in relation to Second Wave Claims. We now await confirmation of the paperwork to be finalised and for offers to be forwarded to us for processing in due course. Correspondence in relation to all offers will be sent to each member directly.
Now I checked with the GMB web site before writing this post and there was no information about a 'new' verbal agreement being reached between the GMB and North Lanarkshire Council.
So what this 'new' agreement covers is anyone's guess because only days ago the GMB's position was that North Lanarkshire Council had refused to accept a proposed amendment to the GMB's equal pay claims and that the issue would have to be debated at a future hearing at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal.
Maybe the pressure GMB members have put the union under in recent days and weeks is beginning to have an effect, who knows?
But if I were a member of the GMB in North Lanarkshire, I would be concerned about the union's continued reluctance to bring its members together, collectively, so that they can properly discuss what is actually going on.
Sending individual letters to members is important, but if you ask me it's no substitute for senior officials of the union reporting back to a members' meeting and being prepared to answer members' questions.
We can now confirm that a verbal agreement has been agreed between North Lanarkshire Council and the GMB union in relation to Second Wave Claims. We now await confirmation of the paperwork to be finalised and for offers to be forwarded to us for processing in due course. Correspondence in relation to all offers will be sent to each member directly.
So what this 'new' agreement covers is anyone's guess because only days ago the GMB's position was that North Lanarkshire Council had refused to accept a proposed amendment to the GMB's equal pay claims and that the issue would have to be debated at a future hearing at the Glasgow Employment Tribunal.
Maybe the pressure GMB members have put the union under in recent days and weeks is beginning to have an effect, who knows?
But if I were a member of the GMB in North Lanarkshire, I would be concerned about the union's continued reluctance to bring its members together, collectively, so that they can properly discuss what is actually going on.
Sending individual letters to members is important, but if you ask me it's no substitute for senior officials of the union reporting back to a members' meeting and being prepared to answer members' questions.
