Council staff raise issues at MSP's single status meeting

Published 30 Jun 2010 10:21 3 Comments

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A MEETING organised by Ochil MSP Keith Brown to highlight the concerns of Clackmannanshire Council employees over the implementation of Single Status took place on Monday.

Alloa Town Hall hosted the event which gave council workers the chance to raise issues they were concerned about.

Workers have consistently accused the council of attempting to implement Single Status pay, which addresses the historical difference in wages between men and women, solely in a way that saves money to address a shortfall in its budget.

Mr Brown, an SNP MSP, said issues raised included a belief that job factors were being manipulated to keep grades low and previous job evaluations had been lost or destroyed.

He added, "I have been contacted by a steady stream of people who all had concerns about their single status outcomes.

"The whole intention of single status was to bring equality into local authority pay structures and pay people for the job they actually do, instead it appears that employees of Clackmannanshire Council are being forced into the job descriptions and pay grades which suit the aims of the council administration."

Mr Brown went on to say the meeting was well attended by unions and staff although no senior council officials or members of the administration were there.

He continued, "Clackmannanshire Council is the last local authority to complete single status implementation and it has descended into chaos. It was clear from the meeting that employees feel they have failed to conduct this process in an open, transparent manner.

"In the interests of staff morale and relations, the only way forward now is for the council to publicly address the concerns and issues of their employees and agree to an independent scrutiny of the entire process."

SNP group leader, Councillor Gary Womersley, was also at the meeting.

He said, "I feel that it is imperative that the administration and senior council staff are forced to publicly address all the issues raised and for the reason, having discussed the matter with SNP Group colleagues, I am happy to commit for us to ask for this to be heard at full Council, if needs be at a Special Council meeting - indeed if needs be we'll work further with the unions and ask for the whole process to be subject to independent review."

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Proud of my county
Unregistered User
Jul 2, 00:14
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Dont be fooled by Councillors who pretendd to be on the side of the workforce,these are the people who employ the heads of departments.

Angela Leach was head hunted into this Council as she party to the same agenda while she worked for Edinburgh Council, now lets sit back and see just how many of her etam she brings over with her from Edinburgh. Lets be honest about this Councils agenda regarding its workforce, they are all in it together to cut cut and cut even more from the lowest paid employees of the Authority leaving them vulnerable and having barely enough money to live on let alone pay the ever increasing fuel costs etc.

We all see the effects of this as these low paid workers are forced out there jobs while at the higher end of the payscale jobs are created within the many council offices that have sprung up everywhere from Lime Tree House to kilncraigs, its a disgrace that these jobs are the drain on the public purse and not to mention whats costing the drain on Government pensions..

I do hope these pensions are capped for anyone earning over 25k a year, if you have earned 50k for many years Im sure you would have saved enough and with that you will have enough to live on along with a pension 1\80th of your salary.

the pension should also be based on your average earning over 5 years not what you earned on your final salary,this will stop the gravy train of higher eaners getting bumped up 14month before they are due to retire, this happens many times in the Authority, and probably throughout every public Sector jobs area.

This alone will save Millions if not Billions when you go across the whole Country and look at this public purse drain...Maybe then we can get our streets cleaned here with the new employees who can be employed with tehe savings, as this county is a tip. Drive off the main roads and into the schemes..Filth is everywhere..CLEAN UP THE POLITICS THEN CLEAN UP THE STREETS.

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pleb
Unregistered User
Jul 14, 07:29
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By my estimations, 1/80th of an annual salary of £50,000 equates to an annual pension of £650 -or- £12.50 a week. Fat Cats indeed!

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Mama Mia
Unregistered User
Sep 2, 19:10
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Maybe at this sensitive time sending out a 'Money Cuts' leaflet on a high quality paper to all staff and households, alongside rebranding all the headed paper etc isn't such a good idea - these people have no idea what it is like to run out of money a week before pay-day or what its like to not be able to afford new shoes for your kids. And I am not talking about people on benefits - I am talking about normal hardworking professional council staff like their classroom assistants and administrators. Shame on you all.

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