Glasgow - Snakes, Ladders and Equal Pay



Here's a detailed summary of the pay situation in Glasgow as it existed straight after the City Council's controversial WPBR pay scheme was introduced in 2007 - with the full support of the local trade unions, of course.

What stands out like a sore thumb is that the traditional male council jobs all landed on an equal pay 'ladder' which meant that their previous bonus earnings were 'looked after' and remained firmly in place for the long-term because of the EDC (Employee Development Commitment) scheme.

So if the WPBR had been a game of Snakes and Ladders, all of the low paid women's jobs managed to land on a Snake, while all the men's jobs had the great good fortune to end up on a Ladder.

Now a few of the women's jobs did receive a increase in paying 2007, Home Carers are a good example, but they still found themselves being paid thousands of pounds a year less than a comparable male job, such as a Council Gravedigger.

Many others skilled and highly qualified female dominated jobs, Clerical Workers for example, gained nothing at all from the WPBR and found themselves still being paid much less than unskilled Gardeners, Refuse Workers and Road Workers.

The current position is that Glasgow City Council either can't or won't explain how this mysterious process worked, i.e. how the higher earning male jobs were 'looked after' under the WPBR while all thee women's jobs lost out, relatively speaking.

If you ask me, this has to mean that the City Council' has no credible defence to the Court of Session's damning judgment that its  cockamamy WPBR pay arrangements are 'unfit for purpose'.   

In which case the City Council needs to get round the table urgently with Action 4 Equality Scotland to start sorting this mess out. 

  

Former Manual Worker Jobs - before and after the WPBR


Home Carer MW5 

Annual Salary - £11,456.57

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £11,456.57

Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 3, Proven) - £16,125.65 (add an extra £2,048.00 for those working shifts and weekends) 


Cook MW 5 


Annual Salary - £12,438.68

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £12,438.68


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 4, Interim) - £17,911.83 


Catering Supervisor MW4


Annual Salary - £12,063.77

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £12,063.77



Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 3, Interim) - £18,247.44 


Escort (Bus) MW3 

Annual Salary - £11,062.63

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £11,062.63


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 2, Proven) - £14,370.10 


Assistant Cook (MW2)

Annual Salary - £11,307.70

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £11,307.70


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 1, Proven) - £13,127.46 



Cleaner MW2 

Annual Salary - £11,307.70

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £11,307.70


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 1, Proven) - £13,127.46


Domestic (Cleaner) MW1 

Annual Salary - £10,938.53

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £10,938.53


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 1, Proven) - £12,327.46 




Former APTC Jobs - before and after the WPBR


Clerical Assistant (SCP 13 - 15)


Annual Salary - £15,441.06

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £11,307.70


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 4, Proven) - £17,883.50 



Child Development Officer (SCP 16 - 24)

Annual Salary - £19,440.03

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £19,440.03


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 5, Interim 1) - £19,851.26 



Pupil Support Assistant (SCP 07 - 13)


Annual Salary - £12,175.84

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £12,175.84


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 3, Proven) - £12,842.55 



Library Assistant (SCP 15 - 18)


Annual Salary - £16,517.94

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £16,517.94


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 3, Proven)  - £17,883.50 



Clerical Officer (SCP 13 - 15) 


Annual Salary - £15,441.06

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £15,441.06


Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 3, Proven) - £15,902.06 




Non-Bonus Earning Former Manual Worker Male Jobs - before and after the WPBR

Caretaker/Driver (MW4)

Annual Salary - £12,063.77

Bonus - Nil


Total Pay - £12,063.77



Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 2, Proven) - £14,370.10 



Driver/Handyperson (MW4)

Annual Salary - £12,063.77

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £12,063.77



Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 2, Proven) - £14,370.10 



Janitor (MW3)

Annual Salary - £11,694.60

Bonus - Nil


Total Pay - £11,694.60



Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 2, Proven) - £15,170.10 




Post of Garage Engineer - before and after the WPBR

A Garage Engineer was not a highly skilled or highly graded  post before the WPBR which is illustrated by the fact that the job attracted an annual salary of £14,073.36 before the City Council's new pay arrangements came into operation in 2007.

Yet a Garage Engineer did earn an eye watering bonus of £17,060.00 which along with other enhancements such as shift allowance to his total pre-WPBR pay to £31,653.74

So keep watching this space to find out what happened to the Garage Engineers earnings once the WPBR kicked in in 2007.


Pre-WPBR Grade - EO1

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £14,073.36

Bonus Pay - £17,060.00

Total Pay - £31,653.74 (including other enhancements such as shift allowance)

Now that's £12,000 a year more than a highly qualified Child Development Officer was paid before the WPBR was introduced.

Yet the City Council and the local trade unions agreed to exclude lots of former APT&C  jobs from receiving compensation for these unjustifiable pay differences between traditional male and female jobs. 

Stay tuned to find out what happened to the Garage Engineer post-WPBR.

Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 5, Proven) - £31,653.74 

  





Post of Roadworker 1 - before and after the WPBR

Roadworkers can be out in all weathers, but so are Home Carers as they move between one client and another, so what explains an MW1 Roadworker receiving a whopping big bonus - while a Home Carer received no bonus at all? 


Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 1

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £10,938.53

Bonus Pay - £5,576.60


Total Pay - £16,515.13

And remember readers these big pay differences still exist - they have just been repackaged and disguised under Glasgow's WPBR which the Court of Session has judged to be 'unfit for purpose'.

Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 1, Proven) - £16,513.13 

  



Post of Refuse Collector (Wheelie Bins) - before and after the WPBR

I've met with a lot of Refuse Collectors in my time and represented their interests with employers, but the job does not demand anything like the level skill or responsibility of a Home Care worker  at grade MW5 - which explains why they were graded at MW2. 

Yet in Glasgow a refuse collector attracted a bonus of almost £6,000 a year.


Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 2

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £11,307.70

Bonus Pay - £5,940.11


Total Pay - £17,247.81

Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 2, Proven) - £17,247.81 


  



Post of Gardener 1 - before and after the WPBR

The next post up is a real doozy - that of a Gardener (MW1) the lowest MW grade yet this still attracted a whopping big bonus which meant a Gardener was being paid thousands of pounds a year more than thousands of low paid women workers on the same or a higher grade.

Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 1

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £10,938.53

Bonus Pay - £6,224.75


Total Pay - £17,163.28

I'm sure most the the City Council's gardeners were GMB members, by the way, so the union clearly knew what was going on and that its women members were being hugely underpaid.

Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 1, Proven) - £17,163.28 

  



Post of Vehicle Workshop Operative/Driver 1 - before and after the WPBR

The next post to be put under the equal pay spotlight in Glasgow is that of a Vehicle Workshop Operative/Driver which was grade at a lower level (MW3) than a Gravedigger, but still received a healthy bonus.

None of the female dominated jobs received bonuses, of course. 

Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 3

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £11,694.60

Bonus Pay - £4,383.90


Total Pay - £16,078.50

Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 1, Proven) - £17,947.25 

  



Post of Gravedigger - before and after the WPBR

Over the next two or three weeks I plan to publish details of the pay of Glasgow City Council's 'comparator' and 'claimant' jobs - both before and after the introduction of the WPBR in 2007.

The purpose of this exercise is to highlight just how much less women were paid than their male colleagues - even when the women were on the same or a higher grade.

To add insult to injury, huge pay differences continue to exist after the WPBR was introduced and when you look at things in the cold light of day, it's impossible to conclude anything other than the 'books were cooked' in favour of the male jobs.  

How else could Gravediggers, Gardeners and other male dominated jobs be capable of earning more than their women colleagues, both before and after Glasgow's new WPBR pay arrangements came into operation? 

As one of the judges, Lady Norris, put the point at the Court of Session hearing, the council clearly “looked after” the men well beyond the protection period. 

In which case, everyone needs to know precisely how the men were helped and what affect this had on their pay. 

Because Glasgow's women workers were clearly entitled to the same 'help' as the men and what happened to the men is the baseline for any settlement discussions. 


Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 4

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £10,938.53

Bonus Pay - £8.503.80


Total Pay - £20,594.57

Now a Home Carer (MW5) was on a higher grade than a Gravedigger (MW4) before the WPBR was introduced, but the female dominated job was paid much less - and that is the historical basis of people's equal pay claims.

Men being paid much more than women for doing jobs that evidently carry less skill and responsibility.

Because you can't have a female dominated job that is fairly evaluated under an 'objective' job evaluation scheme (JES) and then pay the woman's job much less than a male dominated job which has been given a lower score and grade. 

But that is exactly what happened as Glasgow brought in its new WPBR pay scheme in 2007 and, of course, the big differences in pay continue to this day.

Total revised pay after WPBR (Grade 2, Proven) - £21,583.98 


  


Glasgow - Pay Gap Explained 5 (29/09/17)




So here in a single 'summary' post is a detailed explanation of the pay gap that existed in Glasgow City Council immediately before the WPBR in 2007.

Next week I will publish what I know of the pay gap which has continued since 2007 as a result the commitment given by Glasgow City Council to 'look after' the much higher, bonus related earnings of traditional male jobs including Gardeners, Refuse Workers and Gravediggers.

Bound to be something of an eye opener because after years of being cheated and robbed of their rights to equal pay, the council workforce in Glasgow is now much better informed and understands the old saying that 'knowledge is power'.

  



Glasgow - Pay Gap Explained 4 (28/09/17)


Here is a selection of non bonus earning male jobs which had perfectly valid equal pay claims back in 2005/06, but were told 'not to bother' pursuing a claim by the local trade unions in Glasgow City Council.

Now the male jobs in question were obviously of equal value to their bonus earning male colleagues, more so in many cases.

Because a Manual Worker Grade 4 Driver was on a higher grade than a MW1 council Gardener, yet the driver was paid over £5,000 a year less than the Gardener.

Lots of secondary school Janitors were on MW Grade 5, but ended up being paid less than a council Road Sweeper and while I would wish no harm (in pay terms) to a council Road Sweeper, Gardener or Gravedigger - no one can tell me that School Janitor's job is or was worth so much less.

A4ES took up equal pay claims on behalf of Special Needs Drivers and School Janitors on the basis that these jobs had a perfectly valid case if the women were successful in their claims.

And this proved to be the case for lots of people who took their cases up with A4ES instead of following terrible advice from their trade unions.

The real issue now is that these pay gaps still exist because the City Council and the trade unions gave a guarantee to Gardeners, Refuse Workers, Gravediggers etc that their bonus earnings would be maintained going forward under the WPBR, which is what's happened as a result of the Employee Development Commitment (EDC).

The next step is to look at what happened once the WPBR was introduced and what the difference in earnings was after 2007.

Because that is the basis of people's equal pay claims in 2017 - the difference in pay between 2007 and 2017 plus the difference in pay going forward from 2017 until this long-running dispute is finally resolved.

So watch this space.

  


Glasgow - Pay Gap Explained 3 (27/09/17)


Here is a selection of former APT&C jobs in Glasgow City Council and the salaries they were paid prior to the introduction of the WPBR pay scheme in 2007.

Now most of these jobs demanded significant qualifications and they all required high levels of skill or responsibility, yet they were all paid substantially less than unskilled male council jobs.

Just compare the salaries of the women's jobs to those of the men's jobs and no one in their right mind if you ask me, could say that a Clerical Officer's job, for example, was not of 'equal value' to the job of a Council Gravedigger who was being paid £20,594.57.

Or the job of a Pupil Support Assistant for that matter.  

Never mind a highly qualified Child Development Officer who lagged far behind a Garage Engineer's salary of £31,653.74.

Yet the local trade unions in Glasgow City Council either ignored these former APT&C groups or told them, quite wrongly, that they didn't have a valid 'equal pay for work of equal value' pay claim.

Only A4ES took up equal pay claims on behalf of the former APT&C workers and on behalf of the non-bonus earning male groups - on which more will follow tomorrow.   

  

Former APTC Jobs - prior to the WPBR 


Clerical Assistant (SCP 13 - 15)

Annual Salary - £15,441.06

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £11,307.70


Child Development Officer (SCP 16 - 24)

Annual Salary - £19,440.03

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £19,440.03


Pupil Support Assistant (SCP 07 - 13)

Annual Salary - £12,175.84

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £12,175.84


Library Assistant (SCP 15 - 18)

Annual Salary - £16,517.94

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £16,517.94


Clerical Officer (SCP 13 - 15) 

Annual Salary - £15,441.06

Bonus - Nil

Total Pay - £15,441.06

Glasgow - Pay Gap Explained 2 (26/09/17)


Here are some more Glasgow City Council Manual Worker jobs which all received handsome bonuses before the WPBR pay scheme was introduced back in 2007.

Just compare the much higher pay of these male jobs to the list I published yesterday of female dominated jobs on the same or even higher grade: Home Carer, Cook, Catering Supervisor, Bus Escort/Classroom Assistant, Cleaner.

Now I don't have any problem with council Gardeners, Road Workers, Refuse Workers Gravediggers earning a good - not least because I represented these groups as a full-time union official and in my former role as Unison's Head of Local Government in Scotland. 

But the original intention of the 1999 Single Status (Equal Pay) Agreement was to increase the very low pay of tens of thousands of women workers whose jobs had been underpaid and undervalued for years: carers, cooks, catering staff, cleaners, clerical workers, classroom assistants and so on.

Glasgow City Council and the trade unions were signed up to this landmark equal pay  agreement, yet when push came to shove they both decided to put the interests of the male dominated bonus earnings jobs first - before the interests of low paid women. 

The trade unions in Glasgow even threatened industrial action if the higher earnings of the bonus earning male jobs were not guaranteed in the long-term which the City Council agreed to by introducing the Employee Development Commitment (EDC).

So the upshot is that the pay gap which existed before the WPBR was introduced in 2007 remains in place today although senior officials in Glasgow City Council are reluctant to explain exactly what happened to the pay of the Gardeners, Road Workers, Refuse Workers and Gravediggers.

Little wonder then that Court of Session concluded that the interests of the men were 'looked after' under the WPBR - a damning and unanimous judgment from Scotland's highest civil court.

Visit the blog site again tomorrow for more revelations about the pay of Glasgow's former APT&C staff who were told by the City Council and the trade unions that they did not 'qualify' for equal pay - which was a load of old baloney, of course. 


Bonus Earning Former Manual Worker Jobs - prior to the WPBR

Roadworkers can be out in all weathers, but so are Home Carers as they move between one client and another, so what explains an MW1 Roadworker receiving a whopping big bonus - while a Home Carer received no bonus at all? 

Post of Roadworker 1 - prior to the WPBR

Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 1

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £10,938.53

Bonus Pay - £5,576.60


Total Pay - £16,515.13

And remember readers these big pay differences still exist - they have just been repackaged and disguised under Glasgow's WPBR which the Court of Session has judged to be 'unfit for purpose'.


  


I've met with a lot of Refuse Collectors in my time and represented their interests with employers, but the job does not demand anything like the level skill or responsibility of a Home Care worker  at grade MW5 - which explains why they were graded at MW2. 

Yet in Glasgow a refuse collector attracted a bonus of almost £6,000 a year.

Post of Refuse Collector (Wheelie Bins) - prior to the WPBR

Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 2

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £11,307.70

Bonus Pay - £5,940.11


Total Pay - £17,247.81


  


The next post up is a real doozy - that of a Gardener (MW1) the lowest MW grade yet this still attracted a whopping big bonus which meant a Gardener was being paid thousands of pounds a year more than thousands of low paid women workers on the same or a higher grade.

Post of Gardener 1 - prior to the WPBR

Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 1

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £10,938.53

Bonus Pay - £6,224.75


Total Pay - £17,163.28

I'm sure most the the City Council's gardeners were GMB members, by the way, so the union clearly knew what was going on and that its women members were being hugely underpaid.

  


The next post to be put under the equal pay spotlight in Glasgow is that of a Vehicle Workshop Operative/Driver which was grade at a lower level (MW3) than a Gravedigger, but still received a very healthy bonus.

None of the female dominated jobs received bonuses, of course. 

Post of Vehicle Workshop Operative/Driver 1 - prior to the WPBR

Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 3

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £11,694.60

Bonus Pay - £4,383.90


Total Pay - £16,078.50

  


Glasgow - Pay Gap Explained 1 (25/09/17)


Here is a selection of female dominated former 'Manual Worker' jobs in Glasgow City Council and the salaries they were paid back in 2007 - before the Council introduced new pay arrangements through its controversial Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR).

The WPBR was of course endorsed by the local trade unions who agreed a compensation scheme which capped compensation payments at a maximum of just £9,000 and excluded many groups of staff with perfectly valid claims: former APT&C Clerical Workers and School Janitors, for example.

Before the WPBR came into operation a Home Carer, for example, was on Manual Worker Grade 5 which meant that the Home Carer had an irresistible case for equal pay with a MW Grade 4 Gravedigger.

Because while the Home Carer's job was on a higher grade (MW5 compared to MW4) she was actually paid thousands of pounds a year less - £11,456.57 compared to £20,594.57 which illustrates the extent to which women's jobs had been cheated and robbed of their right to equal pay for years.

Many other female dominated jobs were in a similar position: a Roadworker on Grade MW1 was on the same £10,938.53 salary as an MW1 Council Cleaner, but the male job received a big bonus of £5,576.60 every year taking his total pay to £16,515.13

The list goes on and on: for example a Catering Supervisor on Grade MW4 being paid a total of £12,063.77 left far behind the earnings of a more lowly graded Refuse Collector on Grade MW2 whose £5,940.11 bonus took his salary to £17,247.81.  

I am planning to publish other examples in the next few days which will include details about:

  • More bonus earning male jobs  
  • Former APT&C staff such as Clerical Workers 
  • Non bonus earning male jobs such as School Janitors and Special Needs Drivers 

A4ES took up cases on behalf of the former APT&C staff and non bonus earning male jobs while the local trade unions in Glasgow told these members they had no right to equal pay.

So watch this space.

  

Former Manual Worker Jobs - prior to the WPBR

Home Carer MW5 

Annual Salary - £11,456.57


Bonus - Nil


Total Pay - £11,456.57



Cook MW 5 



Annual Salary - £12,438.68


Bonus - Nil


Total Pay - £12,438.68



Catering Supervisor MW4



Annual Salary - £12,063.77


Bonus - Nil


Total Pay - £12,063.77



Escort (Bus) MW3 


Annual Salary - £11,062.63


Bonus - Nil


Total Pay - £11,062.63



Assistant Cook (MW2)


Annual Salary - £11,307.70


Bonus - Nil


Total Pay - £11,307.70



Cleaner MW2 


Annual Salary - £11,307.70


Bonus - Nil


Total Pay - £11,307.70



Domestic (Cleaner) MW1 


Annual Salary - £10,938.53


Bonus - Nil


Total Pay - £10,938.53


Breaking News! (22/09/17)

Image result for breaking news + images

Just a quick note to say that I plan to publish tomorrow some pay data on key female dominated jobs in Glasgow City Council to remind to remind claimants of the pay gap - and of just how much they were being cheated and robbed of their right to equal pay for work of equal value over a period of many years.  

  

Glasgow's Pay Arrangements (22/09/17)


A Garage Engineer was not a highly skilled or highly graded  post before the WPBR which can be seen from the fact that the job attracted an annual salary of £14,073.36 - before the City Council's new pay arrangements came into operation in 2007.

Yet a Garage Engineer managed to earn an eye watering bonus of no less than £17,060.00 which along with other enhancements, such as shift allowance, took his total pre-WPBR pay to £31,653.74

Post of Garage Engineer - prior to the WPBR

Pre-WPBR Grade - EO 1

Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £14,073.36

Bonus Pay - £17,060.00


Total Pay - £31,653.74 (including other enhancements such as shift allowance)

Now that was £12,000 a year more than a highly qualified Child Development Officer was paid prior to the introduction of the WPBR.

Yet the City Council and the local trade unions agreed to exclude lots of former APT&C jobs from receiving compensation for these enormous and unjustifiable pay differences between traditional male and female jobs. 

To follow - the salaries of some of the key claimant jobs so that everyone understands the size of the 'pay gap' and the extent to which women workers were denied equal pay for work of equal value in Glasgow for years and years and years.

The City Council, of course, gave a commitment (the EDC) to male workers that their bonus earnings would be 'looked after' under the WPBR and this point that was picked up by Lady Norris in the Court of Session decision which judged Glasgow's pay arrangements to be 'unfit for purpose'. 

  

Coming Clean in Glasgow (20/09/17)


In the days ahead I plan to publish details about the pay of Glasgow City Council's 'comparator' and 'claimant' jobs - both before and after the introduction of the WPBR in 2007.

The purpose of this exercise is to highlight just how much less women were paid than their male colleagues - even when the women were on the same grade, a higher grade or palpably doing work of 'equal value' to the men.

To add insult to injury, the huge pay differences continued after the WPBR was introduced and when you look at things in the cold light of day, it's impossible to conclude anything other than the 'books were cooked' in favour of the male jobs.  

How else could Gravediggers, Gardeners and other male dominated jobs be capable of earning more than their women colleagues, both before and after Glasgow's new WPBR pay arrangements came into operation? 

As one of the judges, Lady Norris, put the point at the Court of Session hearing, the council clearly “looked after” the men well beyond the protection period. 

In which case, everyone needs to know precisely how the men were helped and what affect this had on their pay. 

Because Glasgow's women workers were clearly entitled to the same 'help' as the men and what happened to the men is the baseline for any settlement discussions.

Post of Gravedigger - prior to the WPBR

Pre-WPBR Grade - MW 4


Pre-WPBR Contracted Pay - £10,938.53


Bonus Pay - £8,503.80


Total Pay - £20,594.57


Now a Home Carer (MW5) was on a higher grade than a Gravedigger (MW4) before the WPBR was introduced, but the female dominated job was paid much less - and that is the historical basis of people's equal pay claims.

Men being paid much more than women for doing jobs that evidently carry less skill and responsibility.


Because you can't have a female dominated job that is fairly evaluated under an 'objective' job evaluation scheme (JES) and then pay the woman's job much less than a male dominated job which has been given a lower score and grade. 

But that is exactly what happened when Glasgow brought in its new WPBR/EDC pay scheme in 2007 and, of course, the big differences in pay between male and female jobs continue to this day.


  

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