SCOTLAND'S largest council said they will be seeking an urgent meeting with union leaders as strike dates were revealed in a row over equal pay compensation payments.
Both UNISON and GMB have revealed its members in Glasgow City Council will strike on Tuesday, March 29 and Wednesday, March 30 and warned the workers, overwhelmingly women, will then strike again in April if there is no resolution to the dispute. A third union, Unite, had been balloting its members on strike action.
A range of vital council services could be impacted by the impending strike action including home care, cleaning, catering, schools, nurseries, and residential homes.
Read more: Revealed: Glasgow equal pay row strike dates are confirmed
However, Glasgow City Council said they are seeking a meeting with union leaders this week as they maintain they "simply don’t recognise this characterisation of the council’s position."
UNISON is calling out nearly 9,000 members, and with their sister trade union also joining the action, this could see more than 12,000 workers out on strike.
Equal pay compensation dispute protest at Glasgow City Chambers. Photograph by Colin Mearns.
It says this is larger than the historic equal pay strike in the city four years ago and could affect home care, cleaning, catering, schools, nurseries, residential homes, homelessness hostels, addiction services and admin functions across the council.
Kath Stirling, UNISON Branch chairman, said: "The purpose of the strike action is to force the council to maintain the current arrangements for equal pay compensation payments. These were won after the last strike but the council is moving to tear-up those arrangements. This could see smaller payments for some and others left out completely.
"There is no moral or political justification for such an approach. These are the same women, in the same jobs still being paid under the same discriminatory gender pay scheme. The women and their jobs haven't changed so why should the compensation arrangements. We say no dumping of the 2019 deal. No exclusions."
UNISON said the deal previously agreed saw compensation payments made to March 31 2018 to 14,000 claimants, and says the council are now saying that another 5,000 new claims will be brought up to that date. But with the new pay and grading scheme not due to be implemented until at least 2024, UNISON says the women are entitled to further pay outs.
Equal pay compensation dispute protest at Glasgow City Chambers in January. Pictured is Kath Stirling, Glasgow City Unison branch chair with a letter to Annemarie O'Donnell , chief executive of Glasgow City Council.
Ms Stirling said they have been fighting for equal pay justice for years in the courts, workplaces and streets.
She added: "We have fought previous council administrations and we have fought this one. We are not going away until the council meets its obligations to women in this city."
UNISON said members voted 96% for strike action on a 52.5% turnout.
Equal pay strikes were held in 2018
Meanwhile, GMB Scotland Organiser Sean Baillie claimed council officials have dithered and delayed for nearly a year on bringing forward an offer for interim payments.
He said: "Put yourself in the position of a home carer or school cleaner who has worked throughout the pandemic knowing they are still being discriminated against by their employer, while highly paid officials who worked from home try to shift the goalposts on paying their liabilities.
“It’s totally unacceptable and there should be no misunderstanding whatsoever in the council about why our members have demanded moving to fresh waves of strike action.
“The council must meet its obligations to these workers by tabling an offer for the settlement of interim payments and new claims, so that we can move forward to replace the discriminatory pay and grading system and bring this scandal to a close.”
A Glasgow City Council spokesman said: “We simply don’t recognise this characterisation of the council’s position. Last week, committee gave officials authority to make offers to new claimants on the same basis as the 2019 deal.
“The council is absolutely following the process agreed with claimants’ representatives and firmly believes that negotiation is the way to settle these cases. We’ll be seeking a meeting with unions this week.”
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