Glasgow - Strike for Equal Pay
Glasgow's equal pay claimants are not 'mindless sheep' - they've taken a very difficult decision, but know full well why they're going on strike.
After more that 10 months and 21 separate meeting with senior council officials, serious negotiations to end this long-running dispute have still not got off the ground.
https://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/16991037.glasgows-equal-pay-women-ready-to-strike/?
Glasgow's equal pay women ready to strike
By Catriona Stewart @LadyCatHT - Evening Times
IF suggestions are true and unions really are putting pressure on Glasgow's equal pay women to strike, there's certainly no sign of it here.
In GMB Scotland's strike office, home carers are, as they have plenty of practice at, rolling up their sleeves and pitching in.
Some have hit the phones, ringing round union members to share plans for the walk out next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Others are making badges, helping with paperwork and creating signs.
"I had no hesitation about voting for a strike," said Roseann Greason, who will be picketing outside Shawlands Primary.
"For 25 years I worked as a home help. In that time the job changed dramatically from being a caring job to being all to do with money.
"They have used the vulnerability of the people we help in their favour, telling us that we are letting our clients down by going out on strike.
"They think, 'It's only women.' Well, these are the women who keep Glasgow going."
The 66-year-old touches on a common theme. Every woman in the strike office talks about how hard it was to choose to strike, knowing the impact this could have on the clients they care for.
Lynn Lamont, a reablement home carer, says the same thing. "You feel guilty because you work with vulnerable people so it's not an easy option to take," she said.
"My gran gets a home carer in - some people really, really need it. We know that.
"You wouldn't be doing this job if you didn't care."
Lynn is helping to create badges for striking workers and talks about an interesting part of the equal pay campaign - how much social media has helped it take off.
Many of the women keep in touch on Facebook, sharing messages of solidarity and passing information on.
The 37-year-old adds: "I didn't know anything about equal pay until last year. I didn't know there was a claim in but then I heard it through the girls and through Facebook.
"Social media has been really powerful. It has helped the momentum build."
For one home carer, who wishes to be known by her first name only, it is vital that people understand how tough the job is.
Lainey, who works for the out of hours service, said: "People don't fully realise what home carers do. They think we make a wee cup of tea and put someone's nightie on.
"We deal with medication; moving and handling of people who are bedbound; we deal with terminal illness; we deal with mental health issues.
"We deal with catheter bags, stomas, vital medications.
"That is all daunting. It you get the medicine wrong then you are solely accountable for it. It is really serious stuff.
"We were going in to a client for years who was getting progressively more ill. His family approached us and said, 'We have got to apologise to you because we didn't realise the extent of what you do.'"
Lainey tells a story of being contacted by a newer colleague who was unable to rouse a client and needed help.
On arriving at the client's home it was clear the elderly man had passed away.
Lainey said: "He was on his knees by his bed, saying his prayers. I phoned an ambulance and there was pressure on me from the control room to carry out resuscitation.
"I knew he had passed and I didn't want to do it. It didn't feel dignified for the man but it was a very, very difficult situation.
"That's what we deal with."
Maureen McNamara, is retired now and has waited 11 years for her equal pay claim to be resolved.
As a home carer she said the job was frustrated by ever shortening appointment times with clients. For one woman, Maureen would start her shift early so they could sit and have breakfast together as she knew the woman had no one else.
She said "The management has taken the word 'care' and annihilated it.
"I want my money to spend while I'm here to spend it. Women have passed away who won't get the opportunity to enjoy money they have rightfully earned."
The 66-year-old rejects the idea women are being manipulated by their unions.
She added: "The unions answer to us. Yes, the GMB in the past let down their women workers. They have held their hands up to that but the new staff are a breath of fresh air.
"This has not come from the unions, it has come from the workers."
All the women believe they will have the support of the city when they form picket lines outside schools and civic buildings next week.
They feel frustrated by perceived delays to negotiations with Glasgow City Council - which the council strenuously denies - and want to be listened to.
Roseann said: "I think we have got the support of Glasgow. At some point in their lives, they have needed the girls.
"There's not a girl out there thinking this is a holiday or not worried about losing two days' pay.
"The council is hoping this will go away. Oh no."
Lainey added: "We genuinely, genuinely are concerned about our clients but we are being pushed and pushed: enough's enough. You are going to listen to us now.
"Glasgow keeps going every day because we are out there. Think about cleaners.
"Teachers couldn't go to work if it wasn't for the cleaners. Kids would miss school. Cleaners are thought of as at the bottom but they are the backbone.
"I'd love Annemarie O'Donnell, the council chief executive, to put a pair of trainers on and a uniform and come out and see what we do."
Linda has been a home carer for 19 years. She's popped into the strike office to pick up a pile of placards to help spread the message on the picket lines, which will be help right across the city.
The 52-year-old said: "It is a hard decision to strike but I am 100 per cent for going on strike and I think we will have the support of the city.
"They will be with us all the way.
"Could the council management do our job? They can put on overalls and we'll see. "
IF suggestions are true and unions really are putting pressure on Glasgow's equal pay women to strike, there's certainly no sign of it here.
In GMB Scotland's strike office, home carers are, as they have plenty of practice at, rolling up their sleeves and pitching in.
Some have hit the phones, ringing round union members to share plans for the walk out next Tuesday and Wednesday.
Others are making badges, helping with paperwork and creating signs.
"I had no hesitation about voting for a strike," said Roseann Greason, who will be picketing outside Shawlands Primary.
"For 25 years I worked as a home help. In that time the job changed dramatically from being a caring job to being all to do with money.
"They have used the vulnerability of the people we help in their favour, telling us that we are letting our clients down by going out on strike.
"They think, 'It's only women.' Well, these are the women who keep Glasgow going."
The 66-year-old touches on a common theme. Every woman in the strike office talks about how hard it was to choose to strike, knowing the impact this could have on the clients they care for.
Lynn Lamont, a reablement home carer, says the same thing. "You feel guilty because you work with vulnerable people so it's not an easy option to take," she said.
"My gran gets a home carer in - some people really, really need it. We know that.
"You wouldn't be doing this job if you didn't care."
Lynn is helping to create badges for striking workers and talks about an interesting part of the equal pay campaign - how much social media has helped it take off.
Many of the women keep in touch on Facebook, sharing messages of solidarity and passing information on.
The 37-year-old adds: "I didn't know anything about equal pay until last year. I didn't know there was a claim in but then I heard it through the girls and through Facebook.
"Social media has been really powerful. It has helped the momentum build."
For one home carer, who wishes to be known by her first name only, it is vital that people understand how tough the job is.
Lainey, who works for the out of hours service, said: "People don't fully realise what home carers do. They think we make a wee cup of tea and put someone's nightie on.
"We deal with medication; moving and handling of people who are bedbound; we deal with terminal illness; we deal with mental health issues.
"We deal with catheter bags, stomas, vital medications.
"That is all daunting. It you get the medicine wrong then you are solely accountable for it. It is really serious stuff.
"We were going in to a client for years who was getting progressively more ill. His family approached us and said, 'We have got to apologise to you because we didn't realise the extent of what you do.'"
Lainey tells a story of being contacted by a newer colleague who was unable to rouse a client and needed help.
On arriving at the client's home it was clear the elderly man had passed away.
Lainey said: "He was on his knees by his bed, saying his prayers. I phoned an ambulance and there was pressure on me from the control room to carry out resuscitation.
"I knew he had passed and I didn't want to do it. It didn't feel dignified for the man but it was a very, very difficult situation.
"That's what we deal with."
Maureen McNamara, is retired now and has waited 11 years for her equal pay claim to be resolved.
As a home carer she said the job was frustrated by ever shortening appointment times with clients. For one woman, Maureen would start her shift early so they could sit and have breakfast together as she knew the woman had no one else.
She said "The management has taken the word 'care' and annihilated it.
"I want my money to spend while I'm here to spend it. Women have passed away who won't get the opportunity to enjoy money they have rightfully earned."
The 66-year-old rejects the idea women are being manipulated by their unions.
She added: "The unions answer to us. Yes, the GMB in the past let down their women workers. They have held their hands up to that but the new staff are a breath of fresh air.
"This has not come from the unions, it has come from the workers."
All the women believe they will have the support of the city when they form picket lines outside schools and civic buildings next week.
They feel frustrated by perceived delays to negotiations with Glasgow City Council - which the council strenuously denies - and want to be listened to.
Roseann said: "I think we have got the support of Glasgow. At some point in their lives, they have needed the girls.
"There's not a girl out there thinking this is a holiday or not worried about losing two days' pay.
"The council is hoping this will go away. Oh no."
Lainey added: "We genuinely, genuinely are concerned about our clients but we are being pushed and pushed: enough's enough. You are going to listen to us now.
"Glasgow keeps going every day because we are out there. Think about cleaners.
"Teachers couldn't go to work if it wasn't for the cleaners. Kids would miss school. Cleaners are thought of as at the bottom but they are the backbone.
"I'd love Annemarie O'Donnell, the council chief executive, to put a pair of trainers on and a uniform and come out and see what we do."
Linda has been a home carer for 19 years. She's popped into the strike office to pick up a pile of placards to help spread the message on the picket lines, which will be help right across the city.
The 52-year-old said: "It is a hard decision to strike but I am 100 per cent for going on strike and I think we will have the support of the city.
"They will be with us all the way.
"Could the council management do our job? They can put on overalls and we'll see. "
Glasgow - Incorrect, Partial and Misleading (14/10/18)
Here's a letter from an Glasgow councillor which claims, amongst other things, that "many (equal pay) comparators have been accepted and others will be negotiated".
Now these words are attributed by Councillor Ballantyne to the Council Leader Susan Aitken which is very odd because it's completely untrue to say that any of the comparators have been agreed.
Comparators are just one part of a complex equal pay jigsaw which requires lots of other factors to be taken into account before any final agreement can be reached - such as the level of NSWP payments, for example.
The Claimants Side put forward comparator proposals months ago, back in May, covering all claimant jobs but the majority have still to receive any response from the Council - including the proposed comparators for the Home Carers and other large claimant groups.
The factual position is that serious negotiations over male comparators have not even begun and after all this time the ball is still stuck in the Council's court which is why all the cases are going back to the Employment Tribunal and why Glasgow City Council is facing the first equal pay strike in the history of Scottish local government.
So it's completely ludicrous to say that:
"Effective action from the unions over the past 12 years could have resolved this issue and questions must be raised here."
"Effective action from the unions over the past 12 years could have resolved this issue and questions must be raised here."
The issue of comparators could and should have been resolved months (not years) ago, but this can only be achieved if both sides get down to 'brass tacks' and so far the Council has refused to do what it promised to do months ago.
I will pass a copy of this blog post on to Cllr Ballantyne, but I presume this briefing information is coming directly from the Council's chief executive's office which is worrying - because it is incorrect, partial and deliberately misleading.
