Glasgow and Equal Pay
GlasgowLive reports on the latest twists and turns in a long-running janitors dispute in Glasgow City Council.
Now I don't know all the details involved, but what I do know is that the unions were as quiet as little church mice back in 2005 when the fight for equal pay was raging.
I don't recall the trade unions calling a single strike or organising any 'lobbies' of the City Council (never mind the Scottish Parliament) when Home Carers and other low paid women workers were being 'bullied' into giving up their equal pay claims on the cheap.
As I recall, the unions sat on the sidelines and allowed the City Council get way with 'murder' as it went about frightening people into settling their claims for far less than they were really worth.
And now Unison seems to be championing the interests of a yet another largely male group of workers when the majority of the council workers in Glasgow are women, of course.
Strange times we live in, right enough.
http://www.glasgowlive.co.uk/news/glasgow-news/glasgow-city-council-leader-claims-12651616
Union chiefs "playing politics" claims Glasgow City Council leader in latest round of janitors dispute
Frank McAveety's comments are the latest move in a long-running battle over service reforms and pay which has been ongoing since January 2016.
BYMAGDALENE DALZIEL - GlasgowLive
BYMAGDALENE DALZIEL - GlasgowLive
Glasgow City Council leader Frank McAveety (Photo: Danny Lawson/PA Wire)
The leader of Glasgow City Council has come out all guns blazing against one of the unions representing striking school janitors.
Frank McAveety has accused Unison chiefs of “playing politics with people’s jobs” instead of representing members’ interests.
His comments are the latest move in a long-running battle over service reforms and pay which has been ongoing since January 2016.
The leader of Glasgow City Council has come out all guns blazing against one of the unions representing striking school janitors.
Frank McAveety has accused Unison chiefs of “playing politics with people’s jobs” instead of representing members’ interests.
His comments are the latest move in a long-running battle over service reforms and pay which has been ongoing since January 2016.
Striking janitors set to protest at Glasgow City Chambers amid health and safety concerns at primary schools
At the root of the dispute is the plan by Cordia, the authority’s arms length body in charge of janitor services, to cut 30 jobs and create a "cluster" management model - ending the system of one per school but resulting in a guaranteed pay hike of £1,000 for each worker.
The unions, which also include GMB and Unite, oppose the shake up and want more cash for tasks that are dirty or involve heavy lifting such as weeding, litter picking and snow clearing.
This which has led to 62 days of strike action by Unison members over the past year.
“The leaders of Unison are playing politics with people’s jobs,” McAveety said.
“They don’t want to negotiate around a new deal but want to conduct megaphone negotiations instead of representing their members’ real interests.”
“Frankly the union’s demands in this dispute have been met time and again.
“Then the leaders move the goalposts," he added.
Under the terms of the proposed shake up, there would be no compulsory redundancies, with the jobs being taken out through natural wastage or redeployment.
Cordia believes the cluster model would be more efficient, leading to 30 workers being promoted to co-ordinator roles, managing 30 clusters around the city.
This would mean that in clusters of five schools, there would be four janitors working together instead of the current five.
But Unison bosses believe the plan compromises health and safety and security.
McAveety said: “The offer guarantees every janitor employed under the new deal a wage rise of nearly £1,000.
“This will take the annual top line pay to around £22,500.
“Those janitors who get promoted posts will get a rise of £4,000, taking their top line to almost £24,500."
He added: “The new deal reduces hours from 41.5 to 40.
“So the deal is more money for less work and guaranteed employment.
“In the days of cuts and financial pressure, surely this is a very reasonable offer?
“If Unison’s ideas of maintaining one janitor for one school stands there would be no promoted posts for janitors to apply for and no new wage structure with increased wages.
“Fact.”
Unison chiefs, who represent about half of the striking workers, claim Cordia has refused to pay janitors Working Context and Demands Payments, ranging from £500 - £1,000 per year, totalling around £120,000.
At the root of the dispute is the plan by Cordia, the authority’s arms length body in charge of janitor services, to cut 30 jobs and create a "cluster" management model - ending the system of one per school but resulting in a guaranteed pay hike of £1,000 for each worker.
The unions, which also include GMB and Unite, oppose the shake up and want more cash for tasks that are dirty or involve heavy lifting such as weeding, litter picking and snow clearing.
This which has led to 62 days of strike action by Unison members over the past year.
“The leaders of Unison are playing politics with people’s jobs,” McAveety said.
“They don’t want to negotiate around a new deal but want to conduct megaphone negotiations instead of representing their members’ real interests.”
“Frankly the union’s demands in this dispute have been met time and again.
“Then the leaders move the goalposts," he added.
Under the terms of the proposed shake up, there would be no compulsory redundancies, with the jobs being taken out through natural wastage or redeployment.
Cordia believes the cluster model would be more efficient, leading to 30 workers being promoted to co-ordinator roles, managing 30 clusters around the city.
This would mean that in clusters of five schools, there would be four janitors working together instead of the current five.
But Unison bosses believe the plan compromises health and safety and security.
McAveety said: “The offer guarantees every janitor employed under the new deal a wage rise of nearly £1,000.
“This will take the annual top line pay to around £22,500.
“Those janitors who get promoted posts will get a rise of £4,000, taking their top line to almost £24,500."
He added: “The new deal reduces hours from 41.5 to 40.
“So the deal is more money for less work and guaranteed employment.
“In the days of cuts and financial pressure, surely this is a very reasonable offer?
“If Unison’s ideas of maintaining one janitor for one school stands there would be no promoted posts for janitors to apply for and no new wage structure with increased wages.
“Fact.”
Unison chiefs, who represent about half of the striking workers, claim Cordia has refused to pay janitors Working Context and Demands Payments, ranging from £500 - £1,000 per year, totalling around £120,000.
They also believe the organisation has saved more than £450,000 in wages over the 62 days, while janitors have lost £77 in wages of every strike day.
However, the authority disputes this, claiming the workers are being supported by union strike pay of around £70 per day.
"There's no need for his strike to continue.
"There's a very good offer on the table.
"Where in today's world can you find union leaders rejecting an offer for their members that guarantees jobs and a pay hike of anything between £1,200 and £4,000, and a shorter week?
"You have to shake your head; you could not make this up."
The latest two week strike was launched this week.
