Strike threat as council opens pay negotiations

THE city council is bracing itself for what could be crippling strike action as it prepares to announce a major review of workers' pay.

Council officials and union leaders have cleared their diaries this week to start tough negotiations, which will see around 17,000 employees undergo job evaluations.

City leader Jenny Dawe today warned the process would not be easy and some would "lose out".

Councils and trade unions signed an agreement nine years ago, introducing equal pay for men and women in a move to "single status" – scrapping the maze of different pay scales and giving staff a fair rate for the jobs they do.

After years of delay, the city council has now drawn up its own plans, and while the details are currently under wraps, the Evening News understands that performance-related pay will be introduced, alongside changes to working hours.

Elsewhere in the country, the move to single status has led to major strike action, and senior councillors are known to privately fear massive disruption this year, with schools being closed, bins left unemptied, community centres and libraries shut, and social work and housing offices unstaffed.

Traditionally, around 60 per cent of employees remain on the same pay, with many others receiving a wage rise – particularly women in low-paid jobs.

But a significant number of workers will see their earnings fall, which is usually the biggest issue for unions. Union leaders today said the council had only budgeted for a three per cent rise in its overall wage bill, which they said was among the lowest in Scotland and was "worrying".

Cllr Dawe said: "Negotiations are about to begin. This is not going to be any easier now than it would have been a few years ago. At the core of the structure is fairness, but some will lose out."

Because a single status deal has never been implemented, the council has already faced legal challenges from many low-paid workers. More than £15 million has been paid out in equal pay claims, and the council has secured funds for a total bill of over £29m. It is likely the review will propose a structure of just 12 pay grades, meaning jobs should be more fairly compared. Public sector union Unison said it was aiming to minimise the number of workers who lose out.

John Stevenson, a spokesman for Unison's Edinburgh branch, said: "We do have to ballot on any agreement, and if we can't reach an agreement then it's not clear what the council will do.

"The council has budgeted less than any other local authority for this, so the biggest problem is it's not putting in enough money.

"That has enormous issues. If the council is less competitive (compared to salaries at other councils], it will have a major problem in recruitment."

WINNERS AND LOSERS
THE Equal Pay Act of 1970 was the catalyst for employers to address sex discrimination in the workplace. It said men and women doing equal work were entitled to equal pay.

The single status agreement was signed off by councils and unions in 1999, and involves an assessment of blue-collar and white-collar workers' jobs.

Most of the winners are low-paid women who have traditionally been in jobs such as cleaning or catering, which have not attracted the overtime and bonus payments of male-dominated manual jobs, such as refuse collection. But the process is a complex business involving job evaluations and the re-grading of all staff across local government.

Local authorities must also find the money to pay the appropriate rate for the job. When a job is evaluated, it is given a number of points in a scoring system.

The ranges of points are then matched to grades that decide a worker's pay. Some workers will benefit and others will lose out when the new structure is implemented.

Day the caring stopped
ANNE BROWN was stunned when council officials told her she would no longer receive home care.

The 63-year-old was not in a wheelchair at the time, as she is now, but there were many day-to-day tasks she was physically incapable of doing.

The grandmother-of-two from Groathill Road North, in Inverleith, said: "I used to get three hours of care a week.

"Then, about six months ago, the council took it off me. I relied on the home care for washing, ironing, shopping, changing the bed and things like that.

"I became very worried and upset because things were no longer getting done about the house.

"I live on my own and I was shocked, absolutely devastated. I thought 'what's going to become of me?'"