Glasgow - Equal Pay Update (1)
The Sunday Mail reported at the weekend on the escalating costs of the ongoing fight for equal pay in Glasgow City Council.
The GMB has decided to ballot its members on industrial action and the union makes the point that the Council's behaviour is costing taxpayers £50,000 an hour - or another £100 million for every year the dispute is allowed to drag on.
A key issue to explain is that Glasgow has not 'dropped' its legal challenge altogether - the Council is still trying to defend its WPBR pay scheme which Scotland's highest civil court, the Court of Session, judged to be 'unfit for purpose' in August 2017.
So while Glasgow was refused 'leave to appeal' this landmark judgment to the UK Supreme Court in London, the City Council has still not accepted the discriminatory nature of its pay practices including the notorious 37 hour 'rule' which was introduced by the WPBR back in 2007 - and continues to operate to this day.
All of the issues which are still in dispute are being referred back to the Glasgow Employment Tribunals in September because they have not been addressed never mind resolved in the 'sham' settlement negotiations with the Council which have been taking place since the start of 2018.
https://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/glasgow-city-council-equal-pay-13102627
Glasgow City Council equal pay battle 'costs taxpayers £50,000 every hour'
The GMB union says the bill for discriminating against women workers for more than a decade could now top £500million as the council have still not settled dispute.
By John Ferguson - Sunday Mail
The GMB union says taxpayers face a huge bill because of the failure of Glasgow City Council to finally settle their equal pay dispute
Scotland’s biggest council are costing taxpayers £50,000 an hour by failing to settle equal pay claims, a union have said.
Glasgow City Council’s bill for discriminating against women working as caterers, cleaners and home carers over more than a decade could top £500million.
There are fears services will have to be slashed to fund the compensation after the authority finally agreed in January to stop fighting nearly 6000 employees through the courts after a series of negative legal judgments.
But GMB regional organiser Hazel Nolan, whose union represent thousands of the women involved, has claimed senior managers have failed to act.
READ MORE
Scotland’s biggest council are costing taxpayers £50,000 an hour by failing to settle equal pay claims, a union have said.
Glasgow City Council’s bill for discriminating against women working as caterers, cleaners and home carers over more than a decade could top £500million.
There are fears services will have to be slashed to fund the compensation after the authority finally agreed in January to stop fighting nearly 6000 employees through the courts after a series of negative legal judgments.
But GMB regional organiser Hazel Nolan, whose union represent thousands of the women involved, has claimed senior managers have failed to act.
READ MORE
GMB regional organiser Hazel Nolan claims senior managers at Glasgow City Council have failed to act (Image: Daily Record/UGC)
She said: “Our estimates are that the bill for this could be going up by £50,000 for every working hour that the council fail to reach an agreement with the thousands of people who deserve to have this issue settled.
“We think the potential is there for up to £100million to be added to this claim every year. The reason it’s going up is because this discrimination is ongoing.
“They’ve scrapped the job evaluation scheme that’s been held to be discriminatory but they haven’t replaced it yet.
“They’ve said it will take three years to re-evaluate everyone’s jobs but until they do that the bill is getting higher, because the discrimination continues.
“The other huge factor in this is the interest payments that are going to be added to claims.
“The exact amount of interest is part of the negotiations but no matter what the rate is, it’s going up all the time that the claims aren’t settled.”
The GMB have warned the council to take immediate action or strikes affecting home care and schools will go ahead over the case.
They have issued a seven-day notice for a full industrial action ballot of their 2500 members who work for Cordia Services – an arm’s-length branch of the council who provide care for 87,000 people and deliver catering and cleaning in schools.
GMB Scotland organiser Rhea Wolfson said the union are “obviously concerned” about the repercussions that the bill could have on services.
READ MORE
Damning report reveals a third of equal pay claims against Scottish councils are still outstanding
She said council bosses “need to talk to the Scottish and UK governments to allow them to get the resources they need to pay this bill”.
The equal pay dispute centres on the way jobs were graded over a decade ago. It meant mainly female workers such as cleaners and care assistants may have been earning less than men in jobs deemed to be of equal value.
Glasgow City Council denied the GMB’s compensation estimates were accurate but didn’t give any figures from the authority’s own accountants.
She said: “Our estimates are that the bill for this could be going up by £50,000 for every working hour that the council fail to reach an agreement with the thousands of people who deserve to have this issue settled.
“We think the potential is there for up to £100million to be added to this claim every year. The reason it’s going up is because this discrimination is ongoing.
“They’ve scrapped the job evaluation scheme that’s been held to be discriminatory but they haven’t replaced it yet.
“They’ve said it will take three years to re-evaluate everyone’s jobs but until they do that the bill is getting higher, because the discrimination continues.
“The other huge factor in this is the interest payments that are going to be added to claims.
“The exact amount of interest is part of the negotiations but no matter what the rate is, it’s going up all the time that the claims aren’t settled.”
The GMB have warned the council to take immediate action or strikes affecting home care and schools will go ahead over the case.
They have issued a seven-day notice for a full industrial action ballot of their 2500 members who work for Cordia Services – an arm’s-length branch of the council who provide care for 87,000 people and deliver catering and cleaning in schools.
GMB Scotland organiser Rhea Wolfson said the union are “obviously concerned” about the repercussions that the bill could have on services.
READ MORE
Damning report reveals a third of equal pay claims against Scottish councils are still outstanding
She said council bosses “need to talk to the Scottish and UK governments to allow them to get the resources they need to pay this bill”.
The equal pay dispute centres on the way jobs were graded over a decade ago. It meant mainly female workers such as cleaners and care assistants may have been earning less than men in jobs deemed to be of equal value.
Glasgow City Council denied the GMB’s compensation estimates were accurate but didn’t give any figures from the authority’s own accountants.
