UNISON calls for rejection of
Glasgow City Branch UNISON is urging its members to reject the outcome of
the City Council's Pay & Benefits Review in a ballot of its 13,000 members.
As Glasgow City Council gets set to impose new pay grades for low to middle
graded staff UNISON has described the Council's Review as half finished, oversimplified
and leaving many low paid staff facing substantial pay cuts.
UNISON Branch Secretary David O'Connor commented: "
"While some staff will see increases which are long overdue we have other
staff who are low paid now, who will still be low-paid
and who are facing substantial pay cuts. We have examples of members who stand
to lose up to 35% of their pay.
"The pay cuts are of such a scale that the Council's suggested scheme
of protection is unworkable and the Council leader's claim that "no-one
will lose a penny" is no longer sustainable. The Council propose
to re-train and re-skill staff but with the extent of some of the losses there
is no way staff will be able to recover.
"From day one, staff whose posts have been downgraded will lose cost
of living increases. The pay cuts will take effect from March 2009 and, given
the scale of cuts, we can see there being no way all staff can make up the
losses."
UNISON has also highlighting the fact that the Council is attempting to introduce
new pay grades while the Review remains unfinished. While the Council claims
to have completed the exercise it is refusing to issue information about grades
at the upper levels in the new scheme, Grades 8 - 10 and the Leadership level,
until after lower and middle graded staff are supposed to have accepted their
new pay grades.
David O'Connor continued "Firstly The Council
claims this is an 'open and transparent process'. How can that be when they
are withholding a crucial part of the information necessary to complete the
comparisons which are fundamental to the job evaluation exercise? Secondly,
the Council's offer to implement pay increases by December 2006 for those
lower to middle graded staff who will gain is being seen as nothing short
of bribery and an attempt to split staff. This is a tactic which the Council
used last year to give compensation payments to low-paid female staff which
fell well short of full entitlement."
UNISON is appalled that the Council has failed to negotiate meaningfully with
the trade unions over this Review. The basis of the new Pay and Grading structure
which the Council now intends to impose is the job evaluation exercise which
should determine the relative values of all Council jobs.
If the Review is complete, as they claim, the new pay and grading structure,
up to and including the Leadership level, should be issued to the trade unions.
UNISON has notified the Council of its intention to run a ballot for Industrial
Action. The ballot will run from 30th October to 17th November 2006.