Glasgow's WPBR Pay Monster

As promised here are the letters I've sent to my local MSP and MP on the need to replace Glasgow City Council's 'unfortunately for purpose' WPBR pay scheme.

So let's see what Glasgow's politicians have to say on this subject in the days head - I've already had a response from one of my local councillors which I'll post on the blog site later today.

Go to it, Glasgow!

  

Dear Alison

Glasgow's WPBR

I refer to the following post from my blog site and draft motion on Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme.

As my local MP, I would be grateful to know if you accept the Court of Session's judgment that the WPBR is 'unfit for purpose' and whether you agree that the WPBR needs to be replaced with a new job evaluation scheme which commands the support and confidence of the City Council's largely female workforce?

I realise, of course, that this is a decision for Glasgow's elected councillors, but as you know there is a huge amount of public interest in the issue of equal pay and, in my view, the city's MSPs and MPs have a vital role to play in bringing this long-running dispute to a just conclusion.  

I look forward to hearing from you soon and if you would like to discuss the matter before responding, please give me a ring on my mobile - 12345 678910

Kind regards

Mark Irvine

Home address

Dear John

Glasgow's WPBR

I refer to the following post from my blog site and draft motion on Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme.

As my local MSP, I would be grateful to know if you accept the Court of Session's judgment that the WPBR is 'unfit for purpose' and whether you agree that the WPBR needs to be replaced with a new job evaluation scheme which commands the support and confidence of the City Council's largely female workforce?

I realise, of course, that this is a decision for Glasgow's elected councillors, but as you know there is a huge amount of public interest in the issue of equal pay and, in my view, the city's MSPs and MPs have a vital role to play in bringing this long-running dispute to a just conclusion.  

I look forward to hearing from you soon and if you would like to discuss the matter before responding, please give me a ring on my mobile - 12345 678910

Kind regards

Mark Irvine

Home address

Glasgow - Breaking News! (15/02/18)

Here's a letter regarding Glasgow's 'unfit for purpose' WPBR which I have sent to my local city councillors - there are actually four in my ward of Glasgow Calton: 

Jennifer Layden (SNP)


Cecilia O'Lone (Labour)



Greg Hepburn (SNP)


Robert Connelly (Conservative) 


A separate letter to my local MSP and MP will follow later today or tomorrow, and I will share details of all the replies I receive on the blog site - including any 'nil'responses.

The more people who get involved in this particular campaign, the better it will be for all concerned because the WPBR is a major obstacle to finding a just settlement of all the   outstanding equal pay claims.

So go to it Glasgow - and don't forget include your home address, post code and contact phone number!

Dear Jennifer, Cecilia, Greg and Robert

Glasgow's WPBR

I refer to the following post from my blog site and draft motion on Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme.

As my local councillor, I would be grateful to know if you accept the Court of Session's judgment that the WPBR is 'unfit for purpose' and whether you agree that the WPBR needs to be replaced with a new job evaluation scheme which commands the support and confidence of the City Council's largely female workforce?

I look forward to hearing from you soon and if you would like to discuss the matter before responding, please give me a ring on my mobile - 12345 678910

Kind regards

Mark Irvine

Home address and post code

  

WPBR Pay Monster (15/02/18)

I have just sent my WPBR blog post to all Glasgow MSPs and MPs with the following Twitter message:

Glasgow's WPBR pay scheme is monstrously unfair and 'unfit for purpose' according to the highest civl court in Scotland - it has to go!

I also plan to write to my own local councillor, MSP and MP later today.

  

Glasgow's 'Unfit For Purpose' WPBR

I have just sent the following email to all elected councillors in Glasgow City Council.

I plan to raise the issue directly with my own local councillor, MSP and MP - and hope that lots of readers and equal pay claimants will do the same.

If anyone is unsure of the name of their local councillor, you can find this out and how to contact them via the following link: https://www.glasgow.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=17565

I have also included the names and email address of the Glasgow MSPs and MPs who were invited to the recent A4ES briefing on equal pay.

Please keep me posted on any developments, good or bad, as I will share the news and any messages of support on the blog site.

  

Dear Councillor

Glasgow's WPBR Pay Scheme

I have drafted the following motion to focus attention on Glasgow City Council's WPBR pay scheme which, as you know, has been judged to be 'unfit for purpose' by a unanimous decision of the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court.

If Glasgow City Council is to build credible pay arrangements for the future, it stands to reason that the WPBR must be replaced by a job evaluation scheme (JES) which commands the confidence of the council's largely female workforce, who have effectively been treated as second class citizens by the WPBR for the past 10 years. 

As things stand, the WPBR is riddled with discriminatory pay practices from top to bottom.

For example, the WPBR has a bizarre and completely invented 'rule' which awards a significant  NSWP payment worth £1,000 our annum only to employees contracted to work a minimum of 37 hours a week. The vast majority of GCC employees contracted to work fewer that 37 hours a week are, of course, women. 

If you ask me, it should not have taken a 10 year battle and Scotland's highest civil court to get this point across, especially as no other work related benefits - holiday pay, sick pay, maternity leave or paternity leave - operate in this discriminatory way. 

Astonishingly, the City Council's senior officials are unable (or unwilling) to explain how the WPBR was commissioned back in 2005/06/07 or how much this ill-judged project cost the public purse.

I would be delighted to discuss the terms of the motion further with individual councillors and/or I can arrange to provide party groups with a briefing on the powerful case for replacing the WPBR as a matter of urgency. 

If you would like to take up this offer, please contact me at: markirvine@compuserve.com

Kind regards

Mark Irvine

Glasgow's 'Unfit For Purpose' WPBR

"Glasgow City Council accepts with the unanimous judgment of the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, that its Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR) is 'unfit for purpose'.

"Council therefore instructs senior officials to replace the WPBR scheme, as a matter of urgency, to bring to an end discriminatory practices which treat its low paid women workers as second class citizens.

"Council further instructs senior officials to draw up plans for using the Gauge job evaluation scheme (JES) as a replacement for the WPBR.

"Council notes that the Gauge JES was originally recommended for use by the Scottish council employers via COSLA and the national trade unions (GMB, Unison and Unite), as part of the landmark 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement."  

  

Glasgow - The Next Big Step (12/02/18)

Glasgow's 'Unfit For Purpose' WPBR.

"Glasgow City Council accepts with the unanimous judgment of the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court, that its Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR) is 'unfit for purpose'.

"Council therefore instructs senior officials to replace the WPBR scheme, as a matter of urgency, to bring to an end discriminatory practices which treat its low paid women workers as second class citizens.

"Council further instructs senior officials to draw up plans for using the Gauge job evaluation scheme (JES) as a replacement for the WPBR.

"Council notes that the Gauge JES was originally recommended for use by the Scottish council employers via COSLA and the national trade unions (GMB, Unison and Unite), as part of the landmark 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement."  

The next big step in the fight for equal pay in Glasgow is for the city to face up to the terrible mess that senior council officials have made of equal pay.

Now I've neem a very senior official myself, in my times, for example as Unison's Head of Local Government and the unions' chief negotiator with COSLA, the Scottish employers' umbrella organisation.

I realise that this is not easy for the people concerned because it requires them to eat a large serving of 'humble pie'.

But the evidence is now overwhelming that Glasgow City Council bought a 'pig-in-a-poke' when its senior officials commissioned the WPBR which has since been judged to be 'unfit for purpose' by the Court of Session, Scotland's highest civil court.

So my draft motion about replacing the WPBR is an idea whose time has come and I am going to circulate this to all local Glasgow councillors as well as the city's MSPs and MPs.

In my view, it's time the city's elected representatives and appointed officials were forced to discuss and debate these issues publicly instead of stitching things up behind closed doors which is what has been what's happening for years.

Claimants in Glasgow can help by writing directly to their local councillors, MSPs and MPs because as we have been witnessing in recent weeks - People Power really works.

In the meantime here is a list of email addresses for the Glasgow MSPs and MPs who were invited to a recent briefing on equal pay - only three turned up on the day (those marked with an asterisk).

Not one of Glasgow's eight constituency MSPs could find the time to come along which is rather odd, if you ask me.

I will let readers know via the blog site when I have circulated the draft motion to Glasgow councillors, MSPs and MPs.

Equal pay claimants may then wish to drop their own local representatives an email - to ask where they stand on this vitally important issue.