People Make Glasgow
'People Make Glasgow' is the City Council's new marketing slogan, as I said on the blog site recently.
And that's as true about the fight for equal pay in Glasgow as it is of anything else - people power counts, or to put it another way 'many hands make light work'.
The challenge ahead is to mobilise the thousands of equal pay claimants and send the Council leadership a strong message about getting they heads out of the sand.
Glasgow is now the only major council in Scotland not to have reached a settlement over its post-job evaluation pay arrangements, unlike neighbouring South Lanarkshire and North Lanarkshire Councils which have both settled all of their outstanding equal pay cases.
Whether it's using Twitter or Facebook equal pay claimants have a big role to play in terms of engaging with politicians inside the Council, in the Scottish Parliament and at Westminster.
So get Liking, Sharing, Following and generally spreading the word - if you want to hold the City Council to account over its obligations on equal pay.
Glasgow and Equal Pay (08/01/17)
I sent a copy of my post about the fight for equal pay in Glasgow to the Leader of the City Council, Councillor Frank McAveety whom I know from way back (more on that subject to follow).
Now I didn't ask Councillor McAveety for a response, but I am interested in hearing from some of the thousands of equal pay claimants in Glasgow because the more people who get involved in the campaign the sooner this will all be over.
'People Make Glasgow' is the city's latest slogan and in this case 'people power' is going to make all the difference in persuading the Council to come to its senses.
Glasgow and Equal Pay (06/01/17)
Readers in Glasgow are in touch regularly to ask what kind of equal pay campaign will get underway in the weeks ahead.
Well that's something I will give detailed thought to over the festive season, but here is a 'starter for ten' as the say ion University Challenge:
- Issue a detailed public statement explaining the basis of the dispute
- Highlight Glasgow's position as the only major council in Scotland not to have reached agreement with A4ES over its post-job evaluation pay arrangements.
- Arrange to brief the Leader of the Opposition Group on Glasgow City Council and individual councillors who may have been kept in the dark by the current council leadership.
- Arrange to brief all MSPs and MPs within the boundaries of Glasgow City Council who are all SNP politicians
- Organise a series of local meetings across the city to encourage the 5,500 A4ES clients in Glasgow to get involved in the campaign
- Assist equal pay claimants in Glasgow to get their message across by lobbying local councillors, Holyrood MSPs and Westminster MPs
- Organise case studies for the local media including The Herald, Evening Times, Daily Record etc
- Organise a major advertising campaign across Glasgow in the run-up to the May 2017 council elections
- Consider standing an 'Equal Pay' candidate in one or more key Glasgow constituencies
- Seek a meeting with Nicola Sturgeon (First Minister) as a Glasgow MSP to discuss how she and the SNP Government can help hold Glasgow to account
Remember, 'many hands make light work' and the more people who get involved in the campaign the sooner this will all be over.
Calling Glasgow
I've said many times on the blog site that the fight for equal pay is not a 'spectator sport'.
And this is another gentle reminder to readers in Glasgow to help build up a network of local campaigners by following me on Twitter
Retweeting and sharing posts will also help in getting a strong campaign message across to Glasgow City Council in 2017.
If you ask me, the Council's foot-dragging behaviour has gone on long enough and Glasgow is now the only major council in Scotland not to have reached a settlement over its post-job evaluation pay arrangements.
So if the current leadership is unable or unwilling to face up to its responsibilities over equal pay, then it's time they made way for people who are prepared to end this saga.
