Glasgow - Equal Pay Update
Introduction
The Dixon Halls in Govanhill hosted another lively equal pay meeting in the south side of Glasgow yesterday (Friday). A4ES, GMB and Unison were all represented, but sadly the Council leader, Susan Aitken, could not come along although Susan has attended these meetings before and is welcome to do so again. Here's a brief summary of what was discussed on the day.
Negotiations with Glasgow City Council (GCC)
The meeting heard that settlement discussions with GCC had broken down because the Council had reneged on its commitment to enter into serious negotiations over the summer and autumn. After 8 months and 18 separate meetings nothing of any substance had been agreed and although the Claimants' had tabled detailed settlement proposals the Council had rejected these out of hand - without offering an alternative or agreeing to negotiate around the Claimants' proposals.
Male Comparators and the Pay Gap
One of the key issues for these negotiations was to identify male 'comparator' jobs which could form the basis of compensation offers to individual Claimants for the 12 years (and counting) of pay discrimination under the 'unfit for purpose' WPBR.
Yet, after all this time not a single comparator had been agreed, or was even in the process of being agreed. To make matters worse the Council announced that it would need a 'time-out' to work up its own proposals and would not be in a position to respond until November. In other words the so-called 'negotiations' have become a joke.
Mark Irvine will be posting information about male comparators pay on his blog to illustrate the size of the pay gap between traditional male and female jobs - which continues to this day and will do so until the WPBR is finally replaced.
Industrial action ballots - GMB and Unison
As a result the Council's behaviour the trade unions (GMB and Unison) decided to call for industrial action and official strike ballots will now get underway in week beginning Monday 27 August 2018. The unions are certainly not trying to pick a fight, they would prefer to resolve these issues by negotiation as would A4ES, of course.
But the Council's reluctance, or inability, to get its act together has brought us to the position that for the first time ever trade union members in Scotland are being asked to back official strike action in support of equal pay - which is a really big deal.
Delivering a Yes Vote
The unions need to achieve a 50% turnout in these ballots and a majority of those voting to secure a mandate for their members to take strike action. So it will be a case of 'all hands to the pumps' to help deliver this result over the next few weeks.
GMB and Unison will be issuing their own advice and guidance to members in the days ahead and A4ES will be doing everything we can to help secure a Yes vote.
Return to the Glasgow Employment Tribunal
Given the failure of 'negotiations' to deliver any real progress, all of the outstanding equal pay claims are being refereed back to the Glasgow Employment Tribunal on Tuesday 25 September 2018. The purpose of this hearing is to force the Council to spell out in proper detail where it stands in relation to the pay discrimination which has been operating under the WPBR for the past 12 years - because GCC has stubbornly refused to do this up until now.
For example, is the Council still trying to defend the 'unfit for purpose' WPBR and its ludicrous 37 hour 'rule' which benefits traditional male jobs by up to £4,000 a year?
If so, let the Council say so and explain its stance in court - because this sits rather oddly with the Council leader's public statements that GCC has not been paying male and female workers 'equally' for the work they do.
More details of the September tribunal hearing will follow - so watch this space.
Campaigning Activities - August/September/October
Lots of campaigning activities will be organised in Glasgow over the coming weeks to get our message across to the City Council, local politicians and the wider public.
The more people who take part and support the fight for equal pay in Glasgow - the sooner we can bring this long-running dispute to an end. So get ready to support a range of activities such as:
- An email and letter writing campaign aimed at Glasgow Councillors, MSPs and MPs
- Organising 'deputations' or small groups of claimants to meet with key Councillors, MSPs and MPs - including the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon.
- A lobby and protest at a future meeting of Glasgow City Council
- Regular trade union meetings in support of the ongoing campaign
- Targeted events in support of the trade union strike ballots
- Targeted events in support of future industrial action
- An 'event' to highlight the Employment Tribunal on 25 September 2018
- An event to build support at the SNP National Conference in Glasgow - 7/9 October
- A special equal pay briefing for Glasgow MSPs and MPs
The scale of the challenge facing Glasgow City Council means that GCC cannot possibly find a way out of this terrible equal pay mess without significant help from the Scottish Government.
At the very least this means providing the City Council with exceptional and unprecedented borrowing powers so that the cost of putting things right is spread over a manageable period of time.
So Glasgow's MSPs have a big role to play in speaking out and standing up for their local constituents in the weeks ahead - because the reality is that Glasgow can't do all the heavy lifting on its own.
