Glasgow and Equal Pay
Readers of the Evening Times gave Frank McAveety 'pelters' in the paper yesterday after the former Labour council leader tried to portray himself as a champion of good local government in the City of Glasgow.
Frank, of course, led Labour to an historic defeat in May when the party lost control of the City Council to the SNP for the first time ever after promising to put 'inequality' at the top of his agenda (see post below dated 28 March 2017).
Now I said, at the time, that Frank's claim was baloney and that for spouting such nonsense the Labour Party deserved to be thrown out on its ear at the local council elections in May 2017 which duly happened, of course.
So while the SNP has still to deliver on its promises and prove its mettle over equal pay, the last thing the new council needs if you ask me, is a lesson from on 'inequality' from the labour opposition leader.
Glasgow - Height of Hypocrisy (26/09/17)
The truth is that the pay arrangements judged to be 'unfit for purpose' by Scotland's highest civl court, the Court of Session, were put in place by a Labour run council in 2007 with the support of the local Labour supporting unions: the GMB, Unison and Unite.
The new SNP led Glasgow City Council have some way to go in clearing up this mess and if you ask me, they should not have sought leave to appeal the unanimous Court of Session decision because the council's WPBR pay arrangements are indefensible.
But the old-fashioned Labour and trade union left has been 'part of the problem' over equal pay for years and it's the absolute height of hypocrisy for them to try and lay the blame in Glasgow at the door of the SNP.
Evening Times - Readers' Comments
That's rich coming from a guy that refused for years to listen to women's rights for equal pay.
JD
DT
Too busy having fact finding missions to the French Riviera with his entourage and probably some buddies from the Unions?
JH
Frank are you still here? Get back in your box you insignificant little man. You should have paid up the equal pay claims.
Glasgow council £60m budget cuts spark 'enough is enough' fury calls
Frank are you still here? Get back in your box you insignificant little man. You should have paid up the equal pay claims.
JB
Glasgow council £60m budget cuts spark 'enough is enough' fury calls
By Stewart Paterson - The Evening Times
Opposition parties and union leaders have said the latest budget projections are more of the same and have called on the SNP in Glasgow to stand up to the Government at Holyrood.
Party leaders have been briefed by finance chiefs at the council of the scale of next years cuts.
They have been told the council is looking at a shortfall of £57.5m next year and further cuts around £60m and £50m in the two following years.
Frank McAveety, Labour group leader on Glasgow City Council, said: “ It is yet another year in which Glasgow’s budget will be cut by the SNP government.
“It seems they are happy to pay for shiny new things but not for services and protecting jobs in Glasgow.
“We were promised something different but this is more of the same.”
Labour, the Tories and the Greens will be asked to produce their budget proposals before the SNP brings forward its final plans early next year for the council to approve.
Unions have said “enough is enough” and have called on Finance Secretary Derek Mackay to stop cuts to councils.
GMB which represents many Glasgow City Council workers said the ten years of council cuts cannot be allowed to continue.
It is looking to Scottish Finance secretary Derek Mackay to use his budget to stop cuts to local authorities.
A union spokesman said if the SNP is serious about tackling austerity it has to stop taking cash from councils.
The GMB spokesman said: “Derek Mackay has said there needs to be an end to austerity. This doesn’t signal the end of austerity.
“Glasgow has lost more than £300m in the last ten years. Our position is enough is enough.”
Brian Smith, Unison Glasgow branch secretary, said: This is an accumulation. It is cuts on top of cuts. and services are on their knees already.
“We say don’t make the cuts. Stand up to the government and use whatever financial powers are available to prevent cuts.”
Mr Smith said Glasgow is affected more than others due to how council funding is allocated.
He said: “It doesn’t take account of the multiple poverty indicators and Glasgow is disproportionately affected.”
Glasgow - Equal Pay Update (19/08/17)
The Herald reports on the landmark equal pay ruling from the Court of Session which has driven a 'coach and horses' through through Glasgow City Council's current pay arrangements - known locally as the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR)
The Council leader has apparently instructed officials to speak with the unions about the pay and grading scheme, although it is important to explain that the local unions have been part of the problem all along, as they actively supported the introduction of the WPBR back in 2007.
Former Labour council leader Frank McAveety is also keen to re-write history with his comment about 'lots of people having together to get their heads together' because it was a succession of Labour-run administrations that managed to dig the City Council into an ever deeper 'equal pay' hole.
Stephen Purcell was the Labour City Council leader in 2005 when A4ES started its equal pay campaign and he was followed by Charlie Gordon, Gordon Matheson and finally Frank McAveety before Labour lost political control of Glasgow at the local elections in May 2017.
So while the most important thing now to put things right - it's also important to understand how and why the City Council ended up is such a terrible mess.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15482564.Workers____joy_and_council_angst_as_women_win_landmark__pay_case/
Workers’ joy and council angst as women win landmark pay case
Labour's Frank McAveety is the winner of my Glasgow 'equal pay' music competition despite the fact that the outgoing council leader didn't submit a nomination on his own behalf.
But Frank deserves to win in my opinion for having the brass neck to tell the Sunday Herald that "I don't do regrets, no I don't" and for claiming in the Evening Times that 'Labour puts Inequality top of Glasgow election agenda' even though Labour-run Glasgow City Council has been making a horse's ass of equal pay for many years.
Now Frank had an opportunity to put things right before today's local elections came along, but he chose not to, so he and his Labour colleagues deserve to be shown the door if you ask me.
Let's see what happens once the voters have had their say at the polls today.
Frank's prize by the way is a bottle of 'Brasso' which as older readers know is really good for polishing up brass necks.
The Labour leader of Glasgow City Council, Frank McAveety, gave an interview to the Sunday Herald at the weekend in which he looked forward to the local council elections on 4th May 2017.
In response to a question about his colourful career in the Scottish Parliament, Frank responded: “I don’t do regrets, no I don’t,” even though he was sacked twice as a government minister for behaving like a teenage schoolboy.
Frank doesn't have a single word to say about equal pay in his long interview which is something I think he will have cause to regret when the voters go to the polls next month.
Read the full piece in the link below to the Sunday Herald and make up your own mind, but before you do here's a famous number by Edith Piaf to get you in the mood.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15213115.The_last_days_of_power_for_Labour_in_Glasgow_____Frank_McAveety_doesn__39_t_think_so/
The last days of power for Labour in Glasgow ... Frank McAveety doesn't think so
KA. Photo by Kirsty Anderson
By Andrew Whitaker - The Sunday Herald
FRANK McAveety, for now at least, is the most powerful Labour politician in Scotland. But as leader of the nation’s biggest council, Glasgow, he also happens to be top of the SNP’s hit list in May’s local elections.
Nicola Sturgeon’s party is tipped to take one of Scottish Labour’s last bastions of power on May 4, seizing what would be a jewel in the crown for the SNP and representing what for many would be the final nail in the coffin of Scotland’s once-dominant political force.
If the opinion polls are anything like accurate, McAveety will be ousted as council leader in less than a month in what could also precipitate the end of a political career that stretches back to some of Labour’s glory days in Scotland. Sitting in the leaders’ office at Glasgow city chambers, however, McAveety is not giving off the vibes of a politician presiding over the last days or weeks of his party’s decades-long rule of Scotland’s biggest city.
"A senior official in Glasgow walks away with a leaving package worth over £450,000 yet the City Council's lowest paid workers are still fighting for their rights to equal pay - what kind of Labour message does that send?"
"You couldn't make this up - this is a Labour council having a laugh at our expense. What a shambles."
Damned right - I couldn't put it better myself!
Labour puts inequality top of Glasgow council election agenda
Opposition parties and union leaders have said the latest budget projections are more of the same and have called on the SNP in Glasgow to stand up to the Government at Holyrood.
Party leaders have been briefed by finance chiefs at the council of the scale of next years cuts.
They have been told the council is looking at a shortfall of £57.5m next year and further cuts around £60m and £50m in the two following years.
Frank McAveety, Labour group leader on Glasgow City Council, said: “ It is yet another year in which Glasgow’s budget will be cut by the SNP government.
“It seems they are happy to pay for shiny new things but not for services and protecting jobs in Glasgow.
“We were promised something different but this is more of the same.”
Labour, the Tories and the Greens will be asked to produce their budget proposals before the SNP brings forward its final plans early next year for the council to approve.
Unions have said “enough is enough” and have called on Finance Secretary Derek Mackay to stop cuts to councils.
GMB which represents many Glasgow City Council workers said the ten years of council cuts cannot be allowed to continue.
It is looking to Scottish Finance secretary Derek Mackay to use his budget to stop cuts to local authorities.
A union spokesman said if the SNP is serious about tackling austerity it has to stop taking cash from councils.
The GMB spokesman said: “Derek Mackay has said there needs to be an end to austerity. This doesn’t signal the end of austerity.
“Glasgow has lost more than £300m in the last ten years. Our position is enough is enough.”
Brian Smith, Unison Glasgow branch secretary, said: This is an accumulation. It is cuts on top of cuts. and services are on their knees already.
“We say don’t make the cuts. Stand up to the government and use whatever financial powers are available to prevent cuts.”
Mr Smith said Glasgow is affected more than others due to how council funding is allocated.
He said: “It doesn’t take account of the multiple poverty indicators and Glasgow is disproportionately affected.”
Glasgow - Equal Pay Update (19/08/17)
The Herald reports on the landmark equal pay ruling from the Court of Session which has driven a 'coach and horses' through through Glasgow City Council's current pay arrangements - known locally as the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR)
The Council leader has apparently instructed officials to speak with the unions about the pay and grading scheme, although it is important to explain that the local unions have been part of the problem all along, as they actively supported the introduction of the WPBR back in 2007.
Former Labour council leader Frank McAveety is also keen to re-write history with his comment about 'lots of people having together to get their heads together' because it was a succession of Labour-run administrations that managed to dig the City Council into an ever deeper 'equal pay' hole.
Stephen Purcell was the Labour City Council leader in 2005 when A4ES started its equal pay campaign and he was followed by Charlie Gordon, Gordon Matheson and finally Frank McAveety before Labour lost political control of Glasgow at the local elections in May 2017.
So while the most important thing now to put things right - it's also important to understand how and why the City Council ended up is such a terrible mess.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15482564.Workers____joy_and_council_angst_as_women_win_landmark__pay_case/
Workers’ joy and council angst as women win landmark pay case
By David Leask - The Herald
Left to right, home carers Alice McIntyre, Janice Feeney, Sandra Johnston, Frances Stojilkovic, Mary Caldwell, Lynn Paton, Katrina Lower and Jacqueline Brennan celebrate after winning their equal pay claim. Picture: Kirtsy Anderson
THOUSANDS of women have won an historic equal pay case that could potentially cost Scotland’s biggest local authority hundreds of millions of pounds just as austerity bites hardest.
Lawyers for more than 6000 workers have secured a ruling at the country’s highest civil court that Glasgow’s entire salary system may be unfair.
Their landmark victory comes after a 12-year fight against the city, which has been described by unions as “rogue” for grading jobs dominated by men, such as gravediggers, above those largely done by women, such as home carers.
Three judges at the Court of Session, the Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian; Lady Paton; and Lord Menzies, quashed an employment tribunal ruling that the grading system met equal pay laws.
Unions and lawyers now hope the council, whose new SNP administration has said it is committed to equal pay, will now negotiate a deal. But - without such an agreement - the ruling means thousands of women can go back to tribunals to seek a wage rise and back pay.
Insiders stress, however, stress that any settlement - whether through individual employment tribunals or negotiation - could have a dramatic effect on city finances.
Stefan Cross QC, whose Action 4 Equality Group, represents 6000 workers in the large and complex action said: “There is now bound to be a huge influx of new cases against the City Council which faces a mammoth bill of £500 million after stubbornly refusing to face up to its equal pay obligations for the past 12 years.”
The case is the second and more significant of two lost by the council over the summer. Back in late May the Court of Session ruled that women workers have been effectively excluded from bonuses widely used by men for years.
The former Labour administrations in Glasgow had thought their re-grading of posts would help them avoid what they saw as a financial blow.
Politicians and officials of that generation have now largely left, to be replaced by city leader Susan Aitken.
The SNP councillor said her administration was elected to improve industrial relations, including settling the equal pay row.
Ms Aitken said: “This is a complex ruling about a complex matter.
“It is right that the Council takes some time to consider the immediate impact and wider ramifications of this ruling.
“Council officers will require time to consider all the implications of this ruling, but I have instructed them to continue to speak to the trade unions about the application of the pay and grading scheme.
“We are actively working with the trade unions to settle all cases relating to pay protection, where a number of women continued to be paid unequally even after the introduction of the new pay and grading system.”
Some of the pay anomalies between male and female workers were stark. Unions argue their female members such as carers, cleaners, catering staff, classroom assistants, clerical workers and so on were typically paid £3 less an hour less than male gardeners, gravediggers or binmen.
That can add up to a shortfall for women of £5000 per year. A final settlement could potentially, therefore, mean workers getting the shortfall for the last decade plus interest.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has backed the equal pay cause after a series of victories for workers over councils.
Labour figures in Glasgow suggested the Scottish Government may have to help local authorities handle big bills with more generous funding arrangements.
Frank McAveety, who Ms Aitken replaced as city leader in May, said: “This judgment has huge financial challenge for the city and a lot of people are going to have to get their heads together, including the government.”
Left to right, home carers Alice McIntyre, Janice Feeney, Sandra Johnston, Frances Stojilkovic, Mary Caldwell, Lynn Paton, Katrina Lower and Jacqueline Brennan celebrate after winning their equal pay claim. Picture: Kirtsy Anderson
THOUSANDS of women have won an historic equal pay case that could potentially cost Scotland’s biggest local authority hundreds of millions of pounds just as austerity bites hardest.
Lawyers for more than 6000 workers have secured a ruling at the country’s highest civil court that Glasgow’s entire salary system may be unfair.
Their landmark victory comes after a 12-year fight against the city, which has been described by unions as “rogue” for grading jobs dominated by men, such as gravediggers, above those largely done by women, such as home carers.
Three judges at the Court of Session, the Lord Justice Clerk, Lady Dorrian; Lady Paton; and Lord Menzies, quashed an employment tribunal ruling that the grading system met equal pay laws.
Unions and lawyers now hope the council, whose new SNP administration has said it is committed to equal pay, will now negotiate a deal. But - without such an agreement - the ruling means thousands of women can go back to tribunals to seek a wage rise and back pay.
Insiders stress, however, stress that any settlement - whether through individual employment tribunals or negotiation - could have a dramatic effect on city finances.
Stefan Cross QC, whose Action 4 Equality Group, represents 6000 workers in the large and complex action said: “There is now bound to be a huge influx of new cases against the City Council which faces a mammoth bill of £500 million after stubbornly refusing to face up to its equal pay obligations for the past 12 years.”
The case is the second and more significant of two lost by the council over the summer. Back in late May the Court of Session ruled that women workers have been effectively excluded from bonuses widely used by men for years.
The former Labour administrations in Glasgow had thought their re-grading of posts would help them avoid what they saw as a financial blow.
Politicians and officials of that generation have now largely left, to be replaced by city leader Susan Aitken.
The SNP councillor said her administration was elected to improve industrial relations, including settling the equal pay row.
Ms Aitken said: “This is a complex ruling about a complex matter.
“It is right that the Council takes some time to consider the immediate impact and wider ramifications of this ruling.
“Council officers will require time to consider all the implications of this ruling, but I have instructed them to continue to speak to the trade unions about the application of the pay and grading scheme.
“We are actively working with the trade unions to settle all cases relating to pay protection, where a number of women continued to be paid unequally even after the introduction of the new pay and grading system.”
Some of the pay anomalies between male and female workers were stark. Unions argue their female members such as carers, cleaners, catering staff, classroom assistants, clerical workers and so on were typically paid £3 less an hour less than male gardeners, gravediggers or binmen.
That can add up to a shortfall for women of £5000 per year. A final settlement could potentially, therefore, mean workers getting the shortfall for the last decade plus interest.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has backed the equal pay cause after a series of victories for workers over councils.
Labour figures in Glasgow suggested the Scottish Government may have to help local authorities handle big bills with more generous funding arrangements.
Frank McAveety, who Ms Aitken replaced as city leader in May, said: “This judgment has huge financial challenge for the city and a lot of people are going to have to get their heads together, including the government.”
Frank's Brass Neck (04/05/17)
Labour's Frank McAveety is the winner of my Glasgow 'equal pay' music competition despite the fact that the outgoing council leader didn't submit a nomination on his own behalf.
But Frank deserves to win in my opinion for having the brass neck to tell the Sunday Herald that "I don't do regrets, no I don't" and for claiming in the Evening Times that 'Labour puts Inequality top of Glasgow election agenda' even though Labour-run Glasgow City Council has been making a horse's ass of equal pay for many years.
Now Frank had an opportunity to put things right before today's local elections came along, but he chose not to, so he and his Labour colleagues deserve to be shown the door if you ask me.
Let's see what happens once the voters have had their say at the polls today.
Frank's prize by the way is a bottle of 'Brasso' which as older readers know is really good for polishing up brass necks.
End of the Affair? (11/04/17)
The Labour leader of Glasgow City Council, Frank McAveety, gave an interview to the Sunday Herald at the weekend in which he looked forward to the local council elections on 4th May 2017.
In response to a question about his colourful career in the Scottish Parliament, Frank responded: “I don’t do regrets, no I don’t,” even though he was sacked twice as a government minister for behaving like a teenage schoolboy.
Frank doesn't have a single word to say about equal pay in his long interview which is something I think he will have cause to regret when the voters go to the polls next month.
Read the full piece in the link below to the Sunday Herald and make up your own mind, but before you do here's a famous number by Edith Piaf to get you in the mood.
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15213115.The_last_days_of_power_for_Labour_in_Glasgow_____Frank_McAveety_doesn__39_t_think_so/
The last days of power for Labour in Glasgow ... Frank McAveety doesn't think so
KA. Photo by Kirsty Anderson
By Andrew Whitaker - The Sunday Herald
FRANK McAveety, for now at least, is the most powerful Labour politician in Scotland. But as leader of the nation’s biggest council, Glasgow, he also happens to be top of the SNP’s hit list in May’s local elections.
Nicola Sturgeon’s party is tipped to take one of Scottish Labour’s last bastions of power on May 4, seizing what would be a jewel in the crown for the SNP and representing what for many would be the final nail in the coffin of Scotland’s once-dominant political force.
If the opinion polls are anything like accurate, McAveety will be ousted as council leader in less than a month in what could also precipitate the end of a political career that stretches back to some of Labour’s glory days in Scotland. Sitting in the leaders’ office at Glasgow city chambers, however, McAveety is not giving off the vibes of a politician presiding over the last days or weeks of his party’s decades-long rule of Scotland’s biggest city.
Labour, Glasgow and Equal Pay (28/03/17)
A number of readers been in touch about Frank McAveety's curious failure to take up my invitation to write a piece for the blog site setting out the Glasgow Labour Party's position in relation to equal pay.
"Frank's running scared," said a regular reader from Govan. "And he's right to be ashamed of the Labour Party's track record in Glasgow because they've had 10 full years to sort this mess out."
Another observed scathingly:
"A senior official in Glasgow walks away with a leaving package worth over £450,000 yet the City Council's lowest paid workers are still fighting for their rights to equal pay - what kind of Labour message does that send?"
A third person sent me a headline from the Evening Times which includes the bold claim that 'Labour puts inequality at the top of Glasgow council election' - followed by their own pithy comment:
"You couldn't make this up - this is a Labour council having a laugh at our expense. What a shambles."
Damned right - I couldn't put it better myself!
Labour puts inequality top of Glasgow council election agenda
Which is why if you ask me, that Frank and Glasgow's Labour Group deserve to be thrown out on their ear at the local council elections on 4th May 2017.
