North Lanarkshire Update
A kind reader has sent me this joint News Release from North Lanarkshire Council and local union officials.
Now I know it's the 'season of goodwill', but I can't help feeling that this meeting was a bit too cosy and that instead of all the backslapping some tough questions ought to have been put to the Council leadership including:
1 Why is the Council not prepared to reach a settlement based on the full difference in pay between male and female jobs?
2 Which senior officials are responsible for the 'errors' and 'mistakes' the Council has been forced to concede over the application of its Job Evaluation Scheme (JES)?
3 In what way have senior Council officials been held to account for the mess they have made of implementing the JES and new local pay arrangements that flow from the JES?
4 How can the Council workforce have any confidence in the ability of senior officials to put things right, if the same group of senior officials are still in charge of the Council today?
5 How can the Council workforce have respect for their chief officials who have been receiving big performance bonuses in recent years while the rest of the workforce has operated under a policy of public sector pay restraint?
6 How does the Council explain the mysterious disappearance of important documents that relate to equal pay in North Lanarkshire and who is being held to account over the way in which this information has gone missing?
If I bump into my old Unison colleague, Councillor Jim McCabe, over the festive season, rest assured that I will put these points to him directly - instead of all this 'faffing' around.
News Release
Council and trade union hold equal pay meeting
The meeting between senior elected members, council officers and UNISON officials took place yesterday (Monday December 8) to discuss issues surrounding the current equal pay dispute.
Councillor Jim McCabe, Leader of North Lanarkshire Council, chaired the meeting. He said: “I thought it was important that elected members meet with UNISON officials so that both the council and the trade union could achieve a better understanding of the current position on equal pay.
“I am pleased that the discussions were constructive in nature and that we were able to provide clarity around the current offer to what are known as second wave claimants. We are not yet in a position to reach a settlement but I thought the meeting was a positive step forward.
“I would wish to see this dialogue continue in the future and I welcome the spirit in which UNISON approached this meeting.”
John Mooney, branch secretary of the North Lanarkshire branch of UNISON, said: “We were happy to have an opportunity to discuss matters with elected members, and welcome their involvement going forward. We hope that this leads to better and swifter negotiations with us and our colleagues and that our members can receive the payments they deserve.”
ENDS
Talking Shop (9 December 2014)
My sources in North Lanarkshire have got back to me about the 'private' meeting between the unions and the Council - see previous post below dated 5 December 2015.
Apparently the unions are now going out of their way to reassure members that nothing untoward is going on and that no negotiations will take place - they're just getting together with the Council management to see if they can 'move the process' forward somehow.
Now I was a union official, and a senior one at that, for a very long time and I have to say that I fail to see much point in having a meeting if there are no meaningful negotiations planned.
Because that's what I would call a talking shop - a complete waste of time.
Maybe they'll all end up having a nice Christmas drink together although at the moment there's nothing to celebrate because, as regular readers know, the real stumbling block is the Council's failure to put realistic offers of settlement on the table.
And unless they do, these cases are all heading back to the Employment Tribunal on 19 January 2015 where the Council and its remaining witnesses will be back in the hot seat.
Private Meetings (5 December 2015)
My sources within North Lanarkshire Council tell me that the Council is having a 'private' meeting with the trade unions today to discuss the ongoing situation with regards to equal pay.
Now I have to say I find this a bit odd because, as everyone knows, Action 4 Equality Scotland (A4ES) represents the vast majority of equal pay claimants in North Lanarkshire and we certainly won't allow the equal pay 'tail' to pretend that it can wag the equal pay 'dog'.
Who knows, maybe some good will come of this little tête-a-tête although I'm always a bit suspicious when people want to peel-off and have their own private discussions.
So, if North Lanarkshire readers have any useful information to pass on then drop me a note, in confidence of course, at: markirvine@compuserve.com
