Glasgow's Fight for Equal Pay
Exactly one year ago today Glasgow's Claimants made history with their hugely successful strike in support of the long-running battle for equal pay with Glasgow City Council.
Message From Annemarie (23/10/18)
Annemarie O'Donnell has sent another of her lengthy missives to the Glasgow workforce on the eve of its historic strike in support of equal pay, although the chief executive has, on this occasion, avoided using the term 'Council Family'.
As ever Annemarie's letter is 'economical' with the truth and two points in particular need correcting:
1. The Council has refused to talk to the trade unions while industrial action is underway or is being planned - and so there have been no negotiations (never mind extensive negotiations) to avert strike action on 23 and 24 October 2018.
2. The Claimants Side has never agreed that it would take at least until December 2018 to reach a settlement. Instead the Claimants signed up to a settlement process based upon 'serious negotiations' which, sadly, have never taken place - after more than 10 months and 21 separate meetings with senior council officials.
The reason there's a strike is that after all this time is that the Council has refused to get down to 'brass tacks' and tackle the serious issues at the heart of this dispute - including which comparators to use in deciding compensation for the claimants.
The Council's stubbornness is also the reason that all of the outstanding equal pay claims are heading back to the Employment Tribunals.
So the litigation over equal pay has not ended - all that's happened is that the focus has shifted to another court.
Subject: MESSAGE FROM ANNEMARIE O'DONNELL
Dear Colleague,
I wrote you at the beginning of this month to advise you of the intended strike action by Unison and GMB on 23rd and 24th October, over the council’s equal pay settlement.
Unfortunately, despite council officers’ extensive negotiations with the unions, the industrial action will still go ahead as planned over the next two days.
I want to be clear that, if you are a member of either union and were balloted for industrial action, you have every right to withdraw your labour and I fully appreciate that your Trade Union is asking you to take part in a wholly legal strike. You also have every right to campaign for a fair settlement to equal pay and I understand why you would feel anger about this issue.
However, this strike will have a profound impact on the safety of some of our most vulnerable citizens and at worst will result in the loss of life.
Late last week, it became clear that the trade unions would not honour their agreement to help provide life and limb services; meaning we had to write again to our Homecare recipients to warn that more of them than anticipated will now receive no care for the whole of the 48 hours.
It has also resulted in the council taking the decision to close all early years, additional support for learning and primary schools across the city on the affected days.
Our secondary schools will remain open with contingency plans for cold lunches for young people entitled to free school meals.
We understand that our staff who are parents and carers of elderly relatives will need to make alternative arrangements to make sure their family are cared for during the industrial action.
I would ask that council managers use their discretion when granting council staff either flexi leave or annual leave to enable them to carry out any caring responsibilities – it’s very important that our most vulnerable receive the care they deserve at this time.
And on a more practical note, road closures around the City Chambers will also be in force on 23rdand 24th October for filming purposes – please be advised by council staff and film production staff as to the best access points to the building.
A march is also planned by Unison – starting at Glasgow Green – and finishing with a gathering in George Square.
Finally, the council is committed to reaching a settlement on equal pay by negotiation. In January, the council and claimants agreed that this would take until at least December – and the Trade Unions signed up to that timescale on your behalf.
As we have said publically many times – there will be a settlement offer from the council in December; at least for all of those still at the table.
Annemarie O’Donnell
Chief Executive
Glasgow - Strike for Equal Pay (23/10/18)
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.
Dying for Equal Pay (10/02/18)
I was very sorry to hear via Facebook that another equal pay claimant in Glasgow has passed away while waiting for her case to be settled.
I'm so sorry and sad to have lost yet another one of our friends and college that's gained her angel wings waiting on her equal pay how many more before we get settled... R.I.P Isobel Pickles thinking of all the family
xxWhat I find surprising is the lack of outrage from Glasgow's politicians - councillors, MSPs and MPs - are well aware that this long-running dispute has been allowed to drag on for the past ten years, but that some people pay a very high price indeed.
Dying for Equal Pay(12/11/17)
I sent yesterday's blog post about "Dying for Equal Pay' to all Glasgow MSPs and MPs along with the following Twitter message:
"No wonder Scotland's First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has criticised local councils for dragging their feet over equal pay"
I hope equal pay claimants in Glasgow are doing their part as well because there's a way to go yet before a proper settlement process gets underway.
As things stand Glasgow City Council has still to explain how traditional male jobs were 'looked after' under the WPBR pay scheme, but this information is crucial to a settlement of the outstanding equal pay claims.
So why is it taking so long and how the hell can the Council justify taking all these months to explain their own pay arrangements?
Dying for Equal Pay (10/11/17)
Sadly, another Glasgow equal pay claimant has died while waiting on the long-running dispute with the City Council to be settled.
Now I don't know the deceased person and she may not even be an A4ES client, though that's beside the point.
Because when something similar was happening to Scotland's miners several years ago, MSPs and MPs were queuing up to demand that the settlement process of their health-related claims be 'speeded up' or else.
Yet the fight for equal pay in Glasgow is 10 years old and counting with little sign of urgency among the political classes or the council's senior officials.
So where are the raised voices of Glasgow's MSPs and MPs on behalf of their local constituents?
Here's an exchange of emails with a friend and work colleague of the claimant concerned - sincere condolences to the family
This whole process is a joke. One of my colleagues who would have beed paid out died this week. So all her years of hard work and fighting was for nothing as she is gone and this atrocious mess continues.
K
Hi K
Hi K
I am very sorry to hear that and know of lots of similar sad cases that have occurred down the years both in Glasgow and elsewhere. Have you written to your local MSP and MP to highlight what's going on because these ridiculous delays in moving things forward do have a very real human cost?
Mark Irvine
Dying for Equal Pay (08/06/17)
I've written about people 'dying for equal pay' many times on the blog site, but this seems like a good time to remind everyone that this foot-dragging behaviour on the part of councils has a very real effect.
Especially when you think that many of the outstanding equal pay claims in Glasgow City Council are more that 10 years old - and date back to 2006/07
Especially when you think that many of the outstanding equal pay claims in Glasgow City Council are more that 10 years old - and date back to 2006/07
Dying for Equal Pay (17/11/16)
I wrote a post the other day which mentioned that a client in Glasgow had passed away while waiting for their equal pay claim to be settled.
Now this is a regular occurrence, not least because many council employers have been dragging their feet in an effort to wear A4ES down, perhaps in the hope that we would run out of the time or resources required to see this fight through to the end.
But they've been proved wrong, of course, time and again but if you ask me, it's still a disgrace that people have had to fight so long also hard just to enforce their rights to equal pay under the law.
Especially when the 'landmark' 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement in Scotland was meant to achieve this no less than 17 years ago.
