Glasgow Employment Tribunal
The outstanding equal pay claims against Glasgow City Council return to the Glasgow Employment Tribunal a week today.
The reason this is happening is because there has been no progress in settlement talks which have been dragging on at a snail's pace since the start of 2018.
After nine months and nineteen separate meetings not one single issue of real substance has been agreed, or is in the process of being agreed - because serious negotiations have not been taking place.
The hearing is being held in public and details are as follows:
Date: Tuesday 25th September 2018
Time: 10am onwards
Venue: Eagle Building, 215 Bothwell Street, Glasgow G2 7TS
When is a negotiation not a negotiation?
Q. When is a negotiation not a negotiation?
A. When one of the parties involved (i.e. GCC) refuses to engage with, or respond positively to, detailed settlement proposals put forward by the other side (i.e. the Claimants Group comprising A4ES, GMB and Unison).
The reality is that after 8 months and 18 settlement meetings, meaningful negotiations with Glasgow City Council have still not got off the ground.
Which explains why all the outstanding claims are going back to the Glasgow Employment Tribunal in September and why the trade unions (GMB and Unison) are now balloting their members on industrial action.
The problem is that 'good faith' negotiations have not been taking place and the Council Side is refusing to discuss in detail (never mind agree) which traditional male jobs should be used as 'comparators' for the purpose of calculating compensation for 12,500 low paid claimants.
So the litigation has not ended, despite what some people say.
Instead the focus of the litigation is shifting from the UK Supreme Court to the Employment Tribunal, as a result of the Council moving at such a 'glacial speed' and its refusal to negotiate properly with the Claimants via their representatives.
Incredibly, when the cases do go back to the Employment Tribunal the current SNP led Council will be in the crazy position of defending the discriminatory practices of a 2007 WPBR pay scheme (including the notorious 37 hour rule) which has already been judged as 'unfit for purpose' by the highest civil court in Scotland, the Court of Session.
