Mark Irvine - Blogger, Campaigner, Organiser

Equal Pay claimants in Glasgow are getting restive over the attitude of Glasgow City Council officials who seem to resent the suggestion that the council's WPBR pay arrangements should be open, honest and transparent. One asks "What's next?" - the answer to which is that it may become necessary for people to start raising these issues directly with the new political leadership of the City Council, in the first instance. Because the SNP   said that it would usher in a new approach, but so far at least it's just more of the same from senior officials who have a vested interest in preventing this issues from being put under proper scrutiny.   I find this amusing considering the amount of times they have put in appeals costing a lot more £600.00 rediculous what happened to SNP not wanting this to drag on yet we find ourselves no further forward E Makes no sense at all sick of hearing or reading stories nearly every day without an outcome. I thi...

Lots of readers have been in touch to ask what's happening in Glasgow after the big Court of Session decision which drove a 'coach and horses' through the City  Council's WPBR pay arrangements. Now I can't speak for the City Council itself, but there have been informal discussions taking place behind the scenes and here is my understanding of the current position being adopted by the new SNP-led administration. The Council has restated that it wishes to achieve a negotiated settlement of all the outstanding equal pay claims. The Council has also restated that it does not wish to continue with a prolonged legal battle, but has still to confirm whether it intends to seek 'leave to appeal' the second Court of Session decision to the UK Supreme Court.   The Council is currently assessing its options for taking these issues forward and aims to set out clear proposals within the next few weeks.  The Council remains committed to 'open, honest and tra...

Glasgow City Council (GCC) is Scotland's largest local council with a budget of well over £1 billion to spend every year. Yet the Council doesn't keep 'good' records, or so it says, and has little idea, if any, about the operation of the Council's controversial Employee Development Commitment (EDC) scheme which was of enormous benefit to former bonus earning jobs when GCC's new WPBR pay arrangements were introduced back in 2006/07. So I though I'd help the City Council out with this letter from Robert Booth, Glasgow's former Director of Land Services, which is dated 30 October 2006. The contents are reproduced below for easy reference. From - Robert Booth, Director of Land Services To - Norma Aird - Head of Corporate HR, Chief Executive Office, City Chambers GRAVEDIGGERS RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION Authorisation is sought herewith for the application of a recruitment and retention payment under the Workforce Pay and Benefits package in respect of...

Here's a leaflet from A4ES which will be appearing in the Glasgow press in the days ahead. The text of the leaflet highlights the fact that because the Council's job evaluation scheme (JES) and WPBR pay arrangements are 'unfit for purpose' - existing employees who have not already registered an equal pay claim can do so now. Also, anyone who has left the City Council's employment within the past 5 years is now able to register a claim. And everyone who has been with A4ES from the very beginning will see their claims go back 10 years, ie. all the way back to 2007 when the WPBR pay scheme was first introduced. The City Council's ALEOs are covered by this decision including: Glasgow Life, Glasgow Housing, City Parking (Glasgow) LLP, Cordia (Service) LLP, City Building (Glasgow) LLP, Glasgow Marketing Bureau Limited, ACCESS LLP, Community Safety Glasgow, Jobs &  Business Glasgow and City Property (Glasgow) LLP.       ...

A number of readers from North Lanarkshire have been in touch to say that they complained to NLC's chief executive (Paul Jukes) about the delay in making their equal pay settlements 'pensionable'. A council official has responded to say that NLC intends to hand over all the required information to the Strathclyde Pension Fund by the end of September 2017 and what the readers wish to know is: "Shall we withdraw our complaint and 'stand down' local North Lanarkshire MSPs and/or MPs who have been asked to support the complainants?" Definitely not, I would say, because we have been here before with North Lanarkshire Council saying one thing and then doing another - or in this case not doing anything at all, for months and months. So I would keep on at the Council and continue to lobby local politicians for support because it seems like the threat of complaining to the Local Government Ombudsman has finally forced the council to 'get its finger ou...