Turning Up the Heat!

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.