Equal Pay: Biggest challenge faced by activists and staff

by Glyn Hawker

Achieving equal pay across all sectors and bargaining groups is a key priority in UNISON's objectives for 2006. In Scotland, at this time, this priority is providing many of us with the biggest challenge that we have faced as UNISON activists and staff.

Most Universities and Higher Education establishments are making good progress in reaching local agreements on the Framework Agreement.

Police and Fire as well as some of the Non Departmental Public Bodies are also engaged in developing and implementing job evaluation schemes at a local level. In getting to this point our activists have had to learn and use negotiating skills in ways that they have never needed in the past.

The Agenda for Change agreement in Health is being implemented in Scotland. The scheme was designed to prevent continuing and future sex discrimination. Health activists have been working hard, non stop, for more than two years to ensure their colleagues have been correctly matched to the new grades.

It has taken much longer than we hoped and has led to frustration that is usually brought to us rather than the employer - where it really belongs. Thousands of Health members in Scotland have made enquires about potential equal pay/back pay claims to the Equal Pay Unit at Thompsons Solicitors in Sheffield and more will do so in the coming weeks.

Many of these members are, quite understandably, asking why they have not received back money when friends and neighbours in Local Government have.

Local Government branches and activists are under the greatest pressure right now as they battle to introduce equality proofed agreements on the Single Status agreement.

Falkirk Council has issued notices of dismissal and re-engagement to their staff. North Lanarkshire has behaved similarly. Others have given notice or intimation of an intention to do the same.

The issues vary between groups of members and service groups but fundamentally we are all engaged in a very hard slog to achieve equal pay for our members but the rest of the work has not gone away.

The Scottish Management Team has recently agreed a work plan to bring together all the strands of the strategy so we can share information and best practice and, if necessary, take some tough decisions about what must be de-prioritised or not done at all.

I have been asked by Scottish Secretary Matt Smith to take on responsibility for ensuring a Scottish wide overview and strategy for Equal Pay. I would be pleased to receive suggestions for how we can best communicate with each other over the coming months. We need enough information without it becoming too much.

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