Brass Neck

I came across this article from The Daily Record recently which reported on the costs of equal pay settlements across Scotland while highlighting the case of South Lanarkshire Council in particular.

But I had to laugh at the comments from Unison which for years actively discouraged union members in South Lanarkshire from pursuing equal pay claims against the Council.

As regular readers know until Action 4 Equality Scotland appeared on the scene back in 2005 equal pay was dead in the water and the trade unions as well as the council employers were guilty of keeping their members in the dark about the huge pay differences between traditional male and female jobs.

So my 'Brass Neck of the Month Award' goes to Unison which instead of blowing its trumpet should be hanging its head in shame, especially in South Lanarkshire where the union effectively betrayed the interests of its lowest paid members but was finally forced by Action 4 Equality Scotland to settle its equal pay claims at a reported cost of £70 million.

Because if the trade unions and Labour led South Lanarkshire had its way this money would have stayed in Council coffers instead of being paid out to the Council's 3,000 lowest paid workers whose jobs had been undervalued and underpaid for years.  

So to set the record straight I have published some post about South Lanarkshire from the blog site archive.   

Equal pay settlements among councils amount to a staggering £180 million

By Paul O'Hare - The Daily Record

IN February a further £70million was agreed between South Lanarkshire Council and its workers. It was also revealed that bosses shell out more than £2million in legal fees to defend claims.



COUNCILS have been ordered to pay out a phenomenal £180m to settle equal pay and employment disputes in the last five years.

Local authorities shelled out £112,408,038 between 2009/10 and 2013/14 while a further settlement of £70.4m was agreed between South Lanarkshire Council and its workers in February.

The figures, obtained by The Herald under Freedom of Information, also reveal bosses paid out more than £2m in legal fees defending claims.

Equal pay settlements account for the majority of the payments with the rest made up of employment tribunals and other dispute settlements.

The true figure is likely to be much higher as some authorities refused to reveal how much they had paid while it it unclear whether other settlements were made but not paid out within the five-year time frame.

Politicians said the figures reflect the injustice done to thousands of workers over the years.

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Willie Rennie said: “This staggering sum reveals the extent of the real discrimination that women have faced for decades.

“It is costly for the state but the price that female workers experienced has been far greater.

“It is important that we put right the mistakes of the past and ensure they are not repeated.

“Creating a stronger economy and a fairer society so that everyone has an opportunity to get on must be our priority.”

Neil Findlay Labour’s spokesman for fair work, skills and training, also welcomed the figures.

He said: “Justice and dignity in the workplace has finally been delivered to those who, for years, have been paid less because of their gender.

“We need to make sure that those who are still waiting have their claims resolved as soon as possible - which is in the interests of both local authorities and those discriminated against.”

South Lanarkshire Council appears to have awarded more than any other council over the five-year period - a total of £70,489,956.06.

But despite being agreed in February, the £70.4m settlement involving present and former female staff who asserted they were earning less than men in comparable, but different, jobs was not paid out before the end of the year for 2013/14.

Edinburgh City Council was the second highest on the list, paying out £34.3m, followed by North Lanarkshire (£18.1m) and Glasgow (£18m).

Many authorities have been forced to flog assets or use reserve cash to meet the large payments.

Edinburgh City Council sold off land worth around £15m at the city’s Morrison Street, as well as a number of other assets, to help pay for the backdated deals.

South Lanarkshire Council is understood to have used reserves to pay the sums.

Trade union Unison, who have been involved in negotiating and fighting for many of these payouts, said the best way forward in the majority of cases is to try to reach an agreement that suits everyone.

Unison’s head of bargaining and campaigns Dave Watson said: “Unison will have been involved in many of these payouts either because staff have been poorly treated, their rights are being ignored or there is some kind of extenuating circumstances.

“However Unison always tries to find a solution that means people can continue working as this is almost always the best option for our members and for the public services they deliver.

“We work with employers to promote best practice and intervene early, where we can, to prevent problems getting out of hand.

“In equal pay cases, for example, we are working with councils to try and find an agreement that suits us all, of course our members need compensated for years of being underpaid, but we are just as interested as how we stop this happening again in the future.”