By Hamid Rasheed and Chris Bartter

Recent headlines about the troubles in Moray and Aberdeen City, after councils issued letters telling some staff that - as a result of job evaluation - they could lose thousands in pay, has thrown the whole exercise into sharp focus.

Alongside this was the appearance in Scotland of a firm of lawyers who have made their name (and money) seeking out equal pay claims in parts of England.

It has become a key issue; one way or another it has started affecting local government staff in Scotland. Hopefully this article can clear the mist around Single Status.

There are similar processes going on in other services. In NHS - Agenda for Change, and a Framework Agreement in Higher Education.

The Job evaluation exercises carried out by Moray and Aberdeen City were a response to the provisions of the Single Status agreement of 1999. This is a Scottish agreement between the Scottish Employers and the Trade Unions. It was designed to harmonise pay and conditions, promote equality and eliminate discriminatory practices in employment. It tries to ensure compliance with equal pay legislation, and requires action from employers to ensure fair and non-discriminatory grading and pay structures.

Unfortunately many Scottish Councils have ignored this issue for too long, and even if they have taken it on, in some cases they have breached the principles of partnership included in the agreement.

The restructuring is also bedevilled by the failure of the Scottish Executive to include any extra money for this process in recent funding settlements - putting pressure on councils to try to deliver new structures at low or no cost.

There are local authorities that made an investment to fund these exercises, and there are local authorities that didn't - or certainly not enough. Therefore, implementation of Single Status may or may not be smooth.

Carol Judge, Scottish Organiser for Local Government said, "However, doing nothing is not an option. Even in the smallest councils, there are equal pay issues that need to be resolved - and the cost of successful equal pay claims pursued by UNISON and others could lead to far more costs and disruption".

Carol Judge added, "Two principles must be uppermost in branch negotiators' minds in the discussions around job evaluation.

"Firstly, many of our colleagues have been discriminated against in their pay for a number of years. We should ensure that both the discrimination is done away with and they get adequate compensation.

"We are currently identifying equal pay cases to pursue at tribunal. We should be using this route, both as an end in itself - if local councils will not address the issue -and to pressure them to do so.

"Secondly, we need to protect members whose jobs lose out of job evaluation - full involvement in the negotiations, the fullest possible protection arrangements and job redesign are all areas we can explore.

"A commitment to 'no pay loss', like that of Aberdeenshire Council, whilst no panacea, is a welcome recognition that cutting pay and conditions is unfair.

"UNISON will continue to defend members' pay and conditions and fight for jobs and services.

"The issue of single status is not simple or straightforward. We need a strategy that includes the different routes of litigation, negotiation and campaigning. We need to know when and where these should be used, and we should not rule out industrial action where needed."

UNISON at Scottish and branch level should continue to prepare cases for tribunal - identifying staff groups who are most likely to be successful. We should continue to pressurise employers to establish the fairest job evaluation system possible - addressing historic discrimination and protecting members' pay and conditions, - by industrial action if necessary - and we should approach the employers to jointly lobby the Scottish Executive to fund Single Status.

All this so we can ensure grading and pay structures are fair, non-discriminatory, transparent, and accommodate the diversity of jobs in local government.

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