Glasgow and Equal Pay



A number of A4ES clients have been in touch with queries about the settlement of the long-running janitors' dispute in Glasgow City Council.

Now some people are asking if this 'resolves my equal pay claim', but the answer to that question is a definite No.

Because the fight for equal pay is a much bigger issue since it's about the proper comparator to use in determining what a School Janitor should be paid, relative to other City Council jobs.

Other readers are on the same WPBR grades as School Janitors and understandably ask if the improved rates of pay for Janitors will also apply to their jobs.

Now on the basis of 'equal pay for work of equal value' that would seem only fair and just if you ask me, but that's the problem of Glasgow addressing pay inequalities on a piecemeal basis which I've written about on the blog previously.

Taking just one job in isolation is not smart and can only result in a sense of resentment from other groups of workers who have a similar complaint about their own grades and/or changes in their working conditions.  

So the sooner that Glasgow City Council sits down with A4ES and starts the work out a comprehensive settlement to equal pay, the better things will be for everyone concerned.

  



Glasgow Turf War (26/07/17)


A number of readers from Glasgow have kindly sent me a copy of the latest GMB letter to members working for Cordia.

Now this janitors' dispute looks to me like bit of a 'turf war', a recruitment war, between two unions which is not that unusual I have to say, as one side or another tries to impress a particular group with a militant stance in order to win more members.

Regular readers will know that I have written about the 'Justice 4 Jannies' campaign on the blog site previously and it seems crazy to me that the any union should single out just one group for special treatment.

Because the groups that have fared worst from the City Council's new pay arrangement (i.e. the WPBR) are the workers employed in predominantly female jobs: cleaners, carers, catering staff, clerical workers, classroom assistants and so on.  

So, if you ask me, the GMB is right to say that no one group should be given priority over another and in that sense the GMB is finally catching up with what I said on the blog site back in March 2016 - see the post below dated 18/03/16.

But what also needs to be said and understood by the City Council employees is that the trade unions who are now complaining about the WPBR (GMB, Unison and Unite) are the very same trade unions (i.e.GMB, Unison and Unite) who copied up to the City Council when the WPBR pay arrangements were introduced back in 2006/7.

In other words the local unions in Glasgow are trying to face both ways at the same time because while they are now complaining about the WPBR pay scheme, the truth is that they helped usher in these bizarre pay arrangements in the first place.

Here endeth the lesson.



   

Dear GMB Member

GMB Scotland in Cordia – Unison Janitorial Dispute & Fair Pay for All 

Many of you will be aware that there has been a long-standing dispute with janitorial staff in our sister trade union Unison and Glasgow City Council (GCC).

GMB is aware that discussions between both parties to end this dispute have been on-going for some time and that GCC leader Susan Aitken has publicly committed to resolving this dispute during the recent council election campaign.

As you know, GMB also has members in janitorial services and I have been in contact with the leadership’s chief negotiator Councillor Feargal Dalton to alert GCC to the fact that decent terms and conditions are the right of all Cordia workers.

We would like to reassure members that any deal to settle the dispute between GCC and Unison janitors, exclusively a male workforce, will not be done on the back of GMB members, predominantly women in care, cleaning and catering, employed elsewhere in Cordia.

GMB has delivered the first decent pay rise for all Cordia workers for over a decade – but it’s only the first step in our campaign for pay parity. The reality is that after a decade of austerity on finances, Cordia needs more funding from GCC to bridge the gap in non-core pay rates.

The new council has been elected on a manifesto promise to end pay inequality across Glasgow. They are also considering a review to bring all ALEOs back ‘in house’. GMB believes that action on both fronts is vital to the delivery of fair pay across the ‘Glasgow family’.

GCC can make good on their promises by bringing Cordia back under their control and ensure all Cordia staff receive the same terms and conditions as their council colleagues. GMB is pressing GCC to do just that.



Strikingly Different (18/03/17)


I don't know enough about this janitors strike in Glasgow to say whether the workers involved have a strong case or not, but I'll bet there are lots of women trade union members scratching their heads and asking themselves:

"Where have all the strikes and protests been during the long 10-year fight for equal pay in Scotland's councils?"

Because although I've taken an active interest in this subject since 2005 I cannot recall a major campaign and/or industrial action on behalf of women workers in Scottish local government whose jobs are still, by and large, stuck at the bottom of the pay ladder.

I must take another look at this Working Context and Demands Payment which is part of Glasgow City Council's local job evaluation scheme (JES), of course.

 
More than 100 Glasgow school janitors begin strike in pay dispute

BBC Glasgow & West Scotland

Image copyright - Dave Moxham Image caption - Janitors on strike held a demonstration outside the City Chambers

More than 100 school janitors in Glasgow have begun a three-day strike in a dispute over pay.

The Unison union said its members wanted additional payments for undertaking tasks which were dirty, unpleasant, involved regularly working outside or heavy lifting.

The staff involved in the action are employed by Cordia - an arms-length body of Glasgow City Council.

All schools were open on Monday but some breakfast clubs were cancelled.

The dispute centres on a claim by janitors for a Working Context and Demands Payment, which can range from £500 to £1,000 annually.

'No option'

The union has accused Cordia of "using spurious arguments to justify not making this payment" to its members.

Unison Glasgow branch officer Sam Macartney said: "Unison is very clear that school janitors meet the criteria to be awarded this payment.

"Our members have been left with no option other than to take this action as both Cordia and the council are wrong and just not listening to our members.

"The council needs to get round the table with Unison and agree a negotiated settlement of our members' legitimate claim."

Image copyright - Dave Moxham

Janitors on strike turned up at the City Chambers on Monday "with buckets, mops and brooms" to stage a demonstration. Another will be held on Tuesday.

Picket lines were organised on Monday morning with a repeat planned for Wednesday.

The union said teachers, support workers, cleaners and catering staff had been advised by their unions not to undertake the duties of janitors in their absence.

A council spokesman said: "Some of the city's janitors took part in industrial action in a number of our primary, Additional Support for Learning schools and nurseries today, with similar action planned for Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.

"This action unfortunately meant that Breakfast Clubs in affected schools had to be cancelled."

Glasgow - The Big Test



The BBC reports that the long running janitors' dispute in Glasgow has finally been resolved with a new pay deal and agreement over job numbers.

Now the number of staff involved (just over 200) is small compared to the 10,000 or so who are part of the even longer running equal pay dispute with Glasgow City Council which goes all the way back to 2005.

While the janitors dispute involved a relatively small, predominantly male group the fight for equal pay revolves around a much larger group of predominantly low paid women's jobs which have been undervalued for years.

School janitors joined the A4ES-led equal pay dispute in various Scottish councils (in South Lanarkshire for example) because they were a non-bonus earning male job and had a perfectly valid claim.

But Glasgow janitors were given terrible advice, in many cases, and told that the fight for equal pay involved only women workers which was completely wrong, of course, as many clients of A4ES can testify.
  
So while I'm pleased to see that the janitors' dispute in Glasgow has been resolved - the big test for the City Council has still to come.

  



http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-40927374

Unison union agrees Glasgow janitor pay deal

BBC - Glasgow & West Scotland


Image copyright - UNISON Image caption - Janitors had staged 67 days of strike action since March 2016

Glasgow primary school janitors have agreed a pay deal in a long-running dispute over plans to re-organise the service and pay.

Unison members voted in favour of a 6% pay rise for the existing 196 janitors, and the number of jobs to rise to 213.

The original offer from employer Cordia, under the previous Labour administration, included plans to share one janitor between multiple schools.

The plan was to cut the number of jobs to 186, but with 30 new promoted posts.

New senior posts

This original offer from the Glasgow City Council body Cordia, which was withdrawn by the previous council administration in March, would have seen a 6% pay rise for 156 janitors and a 20% increase for a further 30 promoted posts.

Under the new deal, there is to be an overall staffing level of 213, with 35 of these to be new senior janitor posts.

These senior roles will come with a staged £4,000 annual pay rise over two years.

Unison had been calling on Cordia to pay janitors Working Context and Demands Payments, which range from £500 to £1,000 per year.

This is for tasks that are dirty or involve outside work and heavy lifting.

Unison said the new deal included a £520 working context payment.

'Workers can win'

Brian Smith, branch secretary for Glasgow Unison, said: "The dispute shows that workers can win if they are determined and organised, supported by their local branch and the wider trade union, escalate strike action when necessary, involve the wider community and build pressure on elected politicians at key points.

"We will draw on the lessons of the dispute for future campaigns, particularly within Cordia, where there remains numerous unfair pay arrangements affecting members."

Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: "I am pleased we have been able to bring about a positive end to this dispute, which has been one of longest disputes in Glasgow City Council in recent decades.

"This dispute was allowed to drag on far too long by the previous administration.

"We promised parents and pupils this would be a priority for the city government.

"Today's agreement means we start the new school year with a deal that works for the janitors, the council and Glasgow's schools."

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