SLC Update (27/07/15)

Lots of readers from South Lanarkshire have been in touch over their equal pay settlement offers and everyone I've spoken to says they've been badly let down by the 'take it or leave it attitude' of the trade unions.

Now I find that quite shocking, I have to say, because the unions are always banging on about the need for 'dignity and respect' at the workplace and it costs nothing to explain how these settlement offers have been calculated and to answer people's questions properly.

The bottom line is that many union members were discouraged from pursuing equal pay claims in the first place and now feel cheated because their settlement offers are a great deal less than those achieved by Action 4 Equality Scotland.

So the people concerned feel that they are being 'punished' for following the union's advice which is understandable and here's a typical comment from one of the individuals involved"

"I have asked the union and the union's lawyers for a full explanation of my offer, as a fee paying member, but this information has been refused. I think the main point, for me anyway, is what percentage of the full claim have I been offered? It's ludicrous to expect people just to accept without the answers they are looking for and absolutely deserve!"   

To most people that would seem perfectly sensible and fair, if you ask me.

The problem is what to do about it, especially if the unions and their legal advisers seem to be washing their hands of the whole affair by telling people that they are 'on their own' if they don't accept the offer that is on the table (without explaining its real value, of course).

Well the honest answer is that holding the unions to account is very difficult because trade unions are not regulated by an independent watchdog who can adjudicate on complaints between an individual member and a big union bureaucracy.

True, there is a Trade Union Certification Officer who can consider complaints about alleged breaches of union rule and in this case it might be possible to argue that the union is acting unfairly and in a bullying manner by withdrawing, or threatening to withdraw, a member's representation.

In any event, I suspect most members would be reluctant to reject a settlement offer, even a poor settlement offer, if they run the risk of losing everything by continuing the fight on their own and a cynic might say that's exactly what the unions are banking on - the fear factor.

So I would say that individual union members are not in a strong position to play 'hardball' faced with a threat to withdraw representation (including legal representation) going forward.

In which case the sensible thing to do may be to accept under protest and on the basis that the union is effectively holding a gun to people's heads by inviting members to accept a settlement offer which worth considerably less than their full claim.

The same is true of a trade union's lawyers, but the way, although solicitors in Scotland are independently regulated by the rules and standards of the Law Society of Scotland and the Scottish Legal Complaints Commission (SLCC).  

Now it is possible for a union lawyer to say that they are not advising a member to accept a poor settlement - that the issue is between the union and its members, but I would argue that's a bit like having a dog and barking yourself.

Not only that because if the union's lawyer 'hides behind' the union, I would argue that this opens up a potential conflict of interest because exactly who is the client here, whose best interests are being served - the individual member and their equal pay claim, or the bureaucracy of the trade union?  

So as well as asking the trade union to explain its advice about the true value of any settlement offer, in writing, I would also put the union's lawyers on the spot by asking them to confirm whether the offer is 'reasonable', in their professional opinion.

All things considered it's not a nice situation to be in and I suspect that most of the union members involved will feel that they are being left with no real choice, but at least the option of accepting under protest gives people the opportunity to complain and take their case elsewhere.