Council pay shake-up
THE council’s pay and benefits system is to be scrapped.
Council leader Susan Aitken revealed it was not ‘fit for purpose’.
She said they ‘needed to do it properly’ and iron out inequalities.
A SHAKE-UP of pay and conditions for Glasgow council staff is on the cards ... because the current system is to be scrapped.
City leader Susan Aitken said the pay and benefits system used to grade staff and determines wages and overtime rates is not fit for purpose.
The Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR) system is linked to the equal pay case, in which council officers are negotiating a settlement with unions and legal representatives of the claimants.
Writing in today’s Evening Times Ms Aitken said that after talks with unions the council will be asked to give its approval to abandon the current WPBR and start work to create a whole new system.
It is likely the new system will be based on the Red Book, which is an agreement used by most Scottish councils.
While it is hoped negotiations will be concluded by the end of this year on the equal pay claims, the implementation of a new pay and grading structure will take much longer to implement.
Ms Aitken said: “Work on a fairer replacement will commence immediately after that and continue over the summer.
“Once identified, it would be two or three further years before it could be fully implemented. We mustn’t repeat the mistakes of a decade ago and expose ourselves to fresh inequalities with another flawed system.
“This is what we are paying the price for. We need time to do this properly.”
Staff have been informed of the decision and work with the unions is expected to begin immediately.
The current grading system was introduced in 2007 and was supposed to deal with gender inequality in the light of equal pay claims, but women workers argue it discriminates against them because female-dominated jobs such as home care are paid less than jobs that are dominated by men, such as cleansing.
It is expected changes in the new system will lead to greater value being placed on the work traditionally done by women workers.
Ms Aitken added: “As council leader, I am committed to implementing a fully funded, fair and just pay and grading scheme that pays equally for equal work and which our employees have confidence in.”
The current pay and grading system was, at the time, agreed by the unions representing workers at the council.