Turning Up the Heat in Glasgow!
Lots of readers from Glasgow have been in touch to ask how they can help in the ongoing campaign for equal pay, especially if the City Council 'digs in' and refuses to get round the negotiating table after the recent decision of the Employment Appeal Tribunal.
Well the answer is the same everywhere - work yourself up into a state of high dudgeon and righteous anger, get organised and give Glasgow City Council a good kicking, as they say.
For example, the Scottish Parliament elections are now underway and polling day is Thursday 5th May 2016.
So there simply could not be a better time to put the political parties and candidate MSPs on the spot.
Where do they stand in relation to the EAT decision that Glasgow City Council has for years treated traditional male workers more favourably than women workers in comparable jobs?
And don't be fobbed off by claims that this has nothing to do with MSPs or MPs because when it suits them politicians have a view on every issue under the sun and, in the past, have queued up to speak out on issues beyond their direct control, for example when the Farepak company went bust.
A very practical thing that people can do is to use social media to get a message across by 'Liking', 'Sharing' and Re-Tweeting posts on Facebook and Twitter.
I will be publishing MPs contact email addresses in the days ahead and there will obviously be opportunities to put questions to candidates in the Scottish Parliament elections.
So get stuck in and get involved because many hands make light work and if the Council doesn't listen, then all Glasgow councillors are up for election in May 2017.
Turning up the Heat (23/02/16)
I forgot to mention in yesterday's update on North Lanarkshire that one of the most effective things that people can do to help isolate the leadership of the Council is to spread the word on social media via Twitter and Facebook, for example.
So the more people who 'Retweet', 'Like' and 'Share' these posts the more pressure North Lanarkshire will be under to come to its senses, as the Council's friends and allies in the local community disappear like snow off a dyke.
One of the key demands is for an independently-led, public inquiry to consider how one of Scotland's largest councils could have made such a dog's dinner of equal pay for all these years.
Beats me, but if this extraordinary and expensive debacle had taken in the private sector I think you could reasonably expect lots of heads to roll.
North Lanarkshire Update (22/02/16)
North Lanarkshire is heating up again as people start focus on all the issues to do with equal pay that are still outstanding after all these years.
So here's a few ideas of how people can join in and play their part in knocking some long overdue sense into this 'cockamamy' Labour-run council.
Get Angry, Get Really Angry
By and large, the same Labour politicians and senior council officials have been making a dog's dinner of their pay arrangements for years. It's time for the workforce (and voters) to give these characters a very hard time.
Scotland's First Minister
Write directly to the First Minster, Nicola Sturgeon, quoting her words in the Scottish Parliament about the foot-dragging antics of local councils. More to follow on this subject.
NLC MSPs
Ask your local for support and help - I will publish their contact details on the blog site, but they should be more than willing to take a stand and speak up for their local constituents.
NLC Labour MSPs
Labour MSPs have a particular responsibility because this is a Labour-run council - put Labour's three Holyrood MSPs on the spot in the run-up to the Scottish Parliament elections.
Westminster MPs
In last year's general election Labour lost all of its Westminster MPs who have all been replaced by SNP MPs - I imagine they are only too happy to lend a hand by shining a light on the Labour-run council's behaviour.
Alex Neil MSP
Alex Neil has been a firm supporter in the fight for equal pay for many years and has set an example for others to follow by holding local meetings and taking issues up with North Lanarkshire Council.
Pensions
Pensions and equal pay is about to become another big battlefield - a separate post will follow on the blog site too, but this is a highly topical and controversial issue on which NLC is again discriminating against its women workers.
Local Papers
Write a letter to your local paper highlighting your issues with NLC, e.g. that a School Clerical Assistant's job is not of 'equal value' to a council Refuse Collector in the eyes of Labour-run North Lanarkshire.
Local meetings
Organise a local meeting for people in your own area and I'll be happy to come along to discuss some of these issues in more detail.
Trade unions
If you are a member a trade union, ask some pointed questions about what the unions are doing to hold North Lanarkshire to account. The unions are affiliated to the Labour Party, but that shouldn't stop them from standing up to a Labour-run council.
North Lanarkshire Update (16/03/16)
Some people say that politicians can't get directly involved in the fight for equal pay in Labour-run North Lanarkshire Council.
But this is nonsense, of course, because there are countless examples of Scottish politicians getting stuck into an issue even when it involves an 'independent corporate entity which is entirely separate from the Scottish Government'.
Take the Farepak scandal, for example.
Readers may recall that Farepak (a private company) went bust in 2006 leaving thousands of people out of pocket in the run up to Christmas, as their savings went down the drain.
Yet the fact that Farepak was an 'independent corporate entity' didn't stop politicians of every stripe and political party queuing up to get their tuppence worth in and demanding that something must be done.
What is needed in North Lanarkshire is a 'call to arms' if you ask me, a demand for action inside and outside the Council so that senior figures are held to account for the terrible mess that's been made of the Council's pay arrangements over the years.
SNP urges aid for Farepak crash victims
The Scotsman - 24 December 2014
THE SNP today issued a Christmas Eve appeal to the UK Government for compensation for Farepak families, who are still waiting for reparation four years after the collapse of the Christmas savings club.
Work and Pensions spokeswoman Eilidh Whiteford has written to Business Secretary Vince Cable, asking why 20,000 Scottish customers who lost their money in 2006 are still out of pocket.
She said: "The UK Government bent over backwards to bail out the banks, and is rightly compensating customers of Equitable Life but hasn't found a single penny for the Farepak families.
"It is four years since Farepak collapsed, but that nightmare of Christmas past is still being felt by many low-income families.
"It is simply disgraceful that, years after the company collapsed, customers are still waiting for their money back."
The Daily Record - 16 July 2012
Labour’s Katy Clark, MP for North Ayrshire and Arran, has written to Cable to demand answers over the collapse of the case.
She said: “This decision is yet another kick in the teeth for those who lost out as a result of the Farepak collapse.
“More than five years on, savers have yet to receive a penny of their money back or see those responsible held accountable.”
22 Dec 2008
Glasgow East MP, John Mason, has issued an eve of Christmas appeal calling for the UK Government to bring forward compensation for Farepak families, who are still waiting for reparation two years after the collapse.
Comparing the UK Government’s response to bailing out the banks with Farepak, Mr Mason has written to Gareth Thomas, Minister of State for Trade, Investment and Consumer Affairs, asking why 20,000 Scottish customers – including hundreds of Glaswegians – are still out of pocket two years later.
SNP call for major Farepak probe
BBC News - 17 November 2006
Farepak customers have been fighting to win compensation
The Scottish National Party has called for a criminal investigation into the collapse of the Christmas savings company Farepak.More than 150,000 customers lost an average of £400 each when the company went into administration in October.
Stewart Hosie MP, the SNP's Treasury spokesman has written to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. He asked him to consider launching a criminal investigation after the Swindon-based firm collapsed.
Stewart Hosie MP, SNP's Treasury spokesman said:
"Press reports would indicate that large sums of savers money were salted away to Farepak's parent company EHR and that Farepak continued to request and receive money until very shortly before it folded.
"I hope that the DTI will pursue a criminal investigation."
FM and Equal Pay (15/02/16)
A good number of readers took up my suggestion of writing to Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, to highlight the scandalous track record or Labour-run North Lanarkshire Council in relation to equal pay.
Now I have a lot of time for Nicola Sturgeon, but I think it's fair to say that people feel rather underwhelmed at the First Minister's official response from a civil servant on behalf of the Scottish Government.
Here is the 'guts' of what the civil servant had to say:
"Councils are independent corporate entities and entirely separate from the Scottish Government. Their powers are set out in statute and, as long as they act lawfully, it is up to each local authority to manage its day to say business. This includes decisions on pay and conditions of employment of council staff. They are accountable to their own electorates, not the Scottish Government, and Scottish Ministers have no general powers that would enable them to call on a council to account for its actions. I would also add that the GMB is an entirely independent organisation and the Scottish Government has no power to intervene in union matters.
"The Scottish Government is keen to see the resolution of all equal pay claims. That is why in August 2014 the then Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Economic Growth, John Swinney, agreed to a request from COSLA for more flexibility to deal with equal pay claims, by allowing councils additional time to plan for the funding of equal pay payments, and to use capital receipts to fund the cost of claims. However, it is up to any individual council to decide whether to take up this offer.
"You may like to know that in December 2014in the Scottish Parliament, Marco Biagi MSP, the Minister for Local Government and Community Empowerment, said that he thought the delays in settling equal pay disputes was unacceptable, and that he would continue to challenge this. However, as Mr Biagi also said the Scottish Government has no formal power to intervene in this matter."
Now this is typical "Yes Minister' stuff which faces both ways at the same time if you ask me, with a general message of concern and support while emphasising that the Scottish Government has no formal power to intervene over the mess that Scotland's fourth largest council has made of equal pay.
Now as everyone knows, that is a statement of the bleedin' obvious, as they say, because no one is expecting Nicola Sturgeon or other Scottish Ministers to step in and take over day-to-day responsibility for the running of North Lanarkshire Council.
But as I pointed out to the First Minister in my own letter dated 28 November 2014 I believe that is is possible for the Scottish Government to investigate North Lanarkshire Council's behaviour under The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012.
My full letter to the First Minister is reproduced below in the blog post titled 'Food For Thought' dated 17 February 2016 although this extract focuses on the key provision of Clause 11.
"My purpose in raising these matters with you, as First Minister, is to invite the Scottish Government to use its powers under the Equality Act to launch an investigation into North Lanarkshire Council's behaviour. My reading of The Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012 suggests that the Scottish Government can intervene and is able to do so under Clause 11 of the Statutory Instrument which says:
"Duty to consider other matters
"11. In carrying out its duties under these regulations, a listed authority may be required to consider such matters as may be specified from time to time by the Scottish Ministers."
So if you ask me, Scottish Ministers (whether Nicola Sturgeon or local government minister, Marco Biagi) do have the power to call North Lanarkshire to account, for example, by requiring the to explain how the Council made such a mess of its pay arrangements for the past 10 years and more.
In other words it's very much a case of 'game on' and the key thing now is to persuade NLC politicians, local and nationally, that the behaviour of North Lanarkshire Council deserves to be placed under and independent scrutiny.
Glasgow Update (21/03/16)
Great news for the 5,500 Action 4 Equality Scotland (A4ES) clients still fighting for equal pay with Glasgow City Council.
The long running case which went to the Employment Appeal Tribunal has finally released its decision (from a hearing which concluded in May 2015) and the result is a huge victory for the claimants.
In essence the tribunal agreed that Glasgow City Council failed to create a level playing field between its traditional male and female jobs before introducing new pay arrangements in 2007.
As regular readers know, traditional male jobs received significant bonus payments on top their basic pay which were highly discriminatory because these lucrative bonus schemes were not available to female dominated jobs.
So 11 years or 12 years ago, a Glasgow Home Care worker was earning around only £6.00 an hour, whereas a male refuse worker or gardener (on the same or even a lower grade) was being paid significantly more, around £9.00 a hour because of these 'male only' bonus schemes.
Now these big bonuses were negotiated between council management and the trade unions (GMB, Unison and Unite), but the size of the pay gap between traditional male and female jobs was kept hidden from the wider workforce - until Action 4 Equality Scotland came along in 2005 and let the cat out of the bag..
The claimants case is that Glasgow City Council had a clear duty to tackle this pay discrimination and create a level playing field between male and female jobs before introducing new pay arrangements in 2007 - and this argument has been upheld by the Employment Appeal Tribunal (EAT).
In plain language the pay of women's jobs should have increased to the same level as the higher (bonus related) pay of men's jobs, otherwise the Council continued to treat its male workers much more favourably than their female colleagues.
Which is exactly what happened in Glasgow because the City Council protected the higher (bonus related) earnings of its traditional male jobs going forward (from 2007) and this 'more favourable treatment' forms the basis of another equal pay claim for the 5,500 A4ES clients.
The $64,000 dollar question is whether Glasgow City Council will accept the game is now up and negotiate a settlement to all of the outstanding claims.
Because if not, then the fight for equal pay in Glasgow is bound to be be a big issue in the Scottish Parliament elections in May 2016 and will also run all the way to the next round of Scottish council elections due in May 2017.
So I will be making contact with the leadership of Glasgow City Council in the days ahead to discover whether it is to be a case of 'jaw jaw' or 'war war'.
