The Fight for Equal Pay in Glasgow
The Evening Times reports that Glasgow City Council is to ask for permission to appeal to the UK Supreme Court to challenge a decision from Scotland's highest civil court, the Court of Session, that its WPBR pay scheme is 'unfit for purpose'.
Now this is a very strange move from an SNP-led council which has promised to settle all outstanding equal pay claims during this council term, given that serious settlement discussions have not even got off the ground.
So the A4ES legal team will vigorously oppose the City Council's attempts to get leave to appeal to the UK Supreme Court because the scandal of massive pay inequality has existed in Glasgow for far too long - 10 years and counting.
If you ask me, the unanimous judgement of Scotland's highest civil court ought to be enough for the City Council's senior officials to admit the terrible mess they've made - before starting to put things right after all this time.
The Evening Times reports that the trade unions are beginning to take these issues more seriously which is good to see, but the truth of the matter is that the local unions agreed to the introduction of the WPBR back in 2006/07 - and also agreed to a 'cap' of just £9,000 on the financial compensation available to low paid council employees.
The GMB, in particular, looks foolish because while the union is now trying to make a lot of noise regular readers will recall that the GMB did not support the A4ES-led challenge to the WPBR pay scheme in the Court of Session.
More details to follow.
http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/15533418.amp/
Glasgow City Council ask for permission to appeal court ruling granting female employees equal pay
By Victoria Brenan - The Evening Times
GLASGOW city council is asking for permission to appeal a court ruling granting female employees equal pay.
Trade unions are planning to protest outside the City Chambers following the move by the council.
It comes after a long-running court battle for equal pay at The Court of Session last month decided that the council's regrading system introduced in 2007 may have been unfair towards women.
In the SNP's election manifesto, they promised to resolve equal pay, stating: " The SNP will settle all outstanding equal pay claims this Council term."
Trade unions have hit out at the latest move, which the council says is not an attempt to appeal the decision, but simply a procedural move.
A spokeswoman from GMB, which had submitted 1800 claims on behalf of their members, said the council has made "absolutely no attempt" to negotiate with them so far and described their latest legal move as "a betrayal".
The spokeswoman said:" This could have been a chance for the new administration to right the wrongs from before, as included in their manifesto.
"However they have made no attempt to negotiate with us and resolve any of the 1800 claims we have made so far."
Unison members are to stage a protest outside the city chambers during the full council meeting at 1pm.
A spokesman said: “We would like to be able to negotiate an agreement to these claims and we have already begun meeting Trade Unions. We will be having further meetings in the coming weeks.
"Seeking leave to appeal does not undermine our commitment to these negotiations.
"However this is a complex judgement and negotiations will be complex too.
"There is a very tight timescale in which you must seek leave to appeal and that runs out this week."
GLASGOW city council is asking for permission to appeal a court ruling granting female employees equal pay.
Trade unions are planning to protest outside the City Chambers following the move by the council.
It comes after a long-running court battle for equal pay at The Court of Session last month decided that the council's regrading system introduced in 2007 may have been unfair towards women.
In the SNP's election manifesto, they promised to resolve equal pay, stating: " The SNP will settle all outstanding equal pay claims this Council term."
Trade unions have hit out at the latest move, which the council says is not an attempt to appeal the decision, but simply a procedural move.
A spokeswoman from GMB, which had submitted 1800 claims on behalf of their members, said the council has made "absolutely no attempt" to negotiate with them so far and described their latest legal move as "a betrayal".
The spokeswoman said:" This could have been a chance for the new administration to right the wrongs from before, as included in their manifesto.
"However they have made no attempt to negotiate with us and resolve any of the 1800 claims we have made so far."
Unison members are to stage a protest outside the city chambers during the full council meeting at 1pm.
A spokesman said: “We would like to be able to negotiate an agreement to these claims and we have already begun meeting Trade Unions. We will be having further meetings in the coming weeks.
"Seeking leave to appeal does not undermine our commitment to these negotiations.
"However this is a complex judgement and negotiations will be complex too.
"There is a very tight timescale in which you must seek leave to appeal and that runs out this week."
