Falkirk Council Update
A contact of mine from the GMB has got in touch to say that they believe the same problem of the union restricting its members equal pay claims to only three years applies in Falkirk Council, as well as in North Lanarkshire.
Now this would make sense, if you ask me, because the GMB has stated previously (at meetings I attended) that this was down to a national policy decision of the GMB rather than something that was peculiar to North Lanarkshire.
In which case the position would be the same across the whole of Scotland and this would affect all GMB members' equal pay claims, not just those in NLC.
Which is a big deal of course, because my understanding of the new pay arrangements in Falkirk Council (post job evaluation) is that they suffer from the same general problems as those uncovered in Fife Council, North Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Council.
Broadly speaking these issues are:
- Comparatively high JES scores for traditional male jobs
- Comparatively low JES scores for traditional female jobs
- Comparatively good pay assimilation arrangements for traditional male jobs
- Comparatively poor pay assimilation arrangements for traditional female jobs
In other words, the pay protection periods far from being the only problem to be resolved and any settlement agreement must take these wider issues into account.
Has anyone else noticed that the trade unions in Falkirk seem to have gone very quiet about equal pay recently and I do wonder if they are really serious about looking after their members best interests?
Come to think of it who are the leading union figures in Falkirk Council the days and who, for example, is the current Unison branch secretary?
If anyone knows, drop me a note at: markirvine@compuserve.com
