Glasgow's Fight for Equal Pay
Stefan Cross compared Glasgow's ongoing equal pay settlement negotiations to a 'Rollercoaster' the other day which is a very good description, because this kind of complex negotiation is always full of 'ups' and 'downs'.
In Glasgow things have been made more difficult by the fact that everyone is now trying to achieve a settlement in just six weeks, when the whole process should have been given a much higher priority many months ago.
Still, we are where we are and the next week or so will tell us whether we are 'marching' or 'fighting' as far as relations with Glasgow City Council are concerned.
As Stefan says, just like Brexit, there remains the very real prospect of a 'No Deal' in which case it's back to the courts (Employment Tribunals) where the SNP-led Glasgow City Council will have to defend a WPBR pay scheme and its discriminatory 37 hour 'rule' introduced by a previous Labour council.
Now I'd pay good money to see this because the SNP in Glasgow have, quite rightly in my view, been lambasting Labour over the WPBR - with leading SNP figures stating publicly that the controversial pay scheme is discredited and discriminatory.
So how could the SNP return to the Employment Tribunals in 2019 because any belated attempt to defend the WPBR in the New Year would surely make the SNP leadership look completely ridiculous?
In my view, there is still time for common sense to prevail though this will depend on the willingness of the Council to approach settlement on the basis of the 'pay and pensions' claimants have lost out on after 12 years of the WPBR - as opposed to what the Council says it can afford.
Now would be a good time to hear from Glasgow's MSPs and the Scottish Government because, as I've said on the blog many times, the City Council is unlikely to be able to dig itself out of this enormous hole all on its own.
NEGOTIATIONS ARE A ROLLERCOASTER
WEEK 4
I wasn’t sure whether to even do a report this week after the overreaction from many readers last week.
OMG they haven’t agreed comparators! Strike!
Sorry, but this was ridiculous. We are truncating into 6 weeks what was intended to cover months. It’s not easy - and that goes for both sides. The longer it goes on the bigger the problems will get as we get to the most difficult and contentious issues. After last weeks reaction I don’t think it’s helpful to you or me or the process to set out the current agreements or disagreements.
Everyone is working in good faith to try and bridge gaps.
I think,with only 2 weeks to go, getting an agreement in time is increasingly challenging.
I need to repeat there will NOT be offers in December. We might be able to agree a framework but even if that happens there will have to be masses of work on data and individual cases before real offers can be sent. And offers will not be sent before March 19 and payment not before April. That is not a commitment to those dates. Those are the earliest targets. The council made commitments it might not be able to meet, I’m not making the same mistake.
And that’s if we get a framework b4 Xmas. There remains a real prospect of No Deal. Nobody wants that but it cannot be ruled out.
BUT We are making progress although there are major areas of dispute. This is as you would expect. No one is drawing red lines or threatening to walk away.
We all have our homework and we are back to the fray next Tuesday.
That’s about the best I can say at this stage.
One last thought. United We Stand. Let’s not sow division amongst ourselves.
Stefan Cross
In my view, there is still time for common sense to prevail though this will depend on the willingness of the Council to approach settlement on the basis of the 'pay and pensions' claimants have lost out on after 12 years of the WPBR - as opposed to what the Council says it can afford.
Now would be a good time to hear from Glasgow's MSPs and the Scottish Government because, as I've said on the blog many times, the City Council is unlikely to be able to dig itself out of this enormous hole all on its own.
NEGOTIATIONS ARE A ROLLERCOASTER
WEEK 4
I wasn’t sure whether to even do a report this week after the overreaction from many readers last week.
OMG they haven’t agreed comparators! Strike!
Sorry, but this was ridiculous. We are truncating into 6 weeks what was intended to cover months. It’s not easy - and that goes for both sides. The longer it goes on the bigger the problems will get as we get to the most difficult and contentious issues. After last weeks reaction I don’t think it’s helpful to you or me or the process to set out the current agreements or disagreements.
Everyone is working in good faith to try and bridge gaps.
I think,with only 2 weeks to go, getting an agreement in time is increasingly challenging.
I need to repeat there will NOT be offers in December. We might be able to agree a framework but even if that happens there will have to be masses of work on data and individual cases before real offers can be sent. And offers will not be sent before March 19 and payment not before April. That is not a commitment to those dates. Those are the earliest targets. The council made commitments it might not be able to meet, I’m not making the same mistake.
And that’s if we get a framework b4 Xmas. There remains a real prospect of No Deal. Nobody wants that but it cannot be ruled out.
BUT We are making progress although there are major areas of dispute. This is as you would expect. No one is drawing red lines or threatening to walk away.
We all have our homework and we are back to the fray next Tuesday.
That’s about the best I can say at this stage.
One last thought. United We Stand. Let’s not sow division amongst ourselves.
Stefan Cross
