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Glasgow strike: schools and nurseries shut down in equal pay walkout Glasgow strike: council leader attacks unions over equal pay walkout
(about 2 hours later)
Hundreds of schools and nurseries will be shut and home care services affected as Glasgow city council workers walk out in a row over equal pay claims in what is believed to be the biggest strike of its kind. The leader of Glasgow city council has accused union leaders of mounting an unnecessary strike over equal pay which has closed the city’s primary schools, nurseries and other services.
More than 8,000 members of the GMB and Unison unions will participate in two days of industrial action, starting at 7am on Tuesday, over what they see as a lack of progress on equal pay claims. Susan Aitken said the two-day strike by more than 8,000 mostly female employees, thought to be the largest ever in the UK over pay inequality, would “have a devastating impact and there is no need for it”.
Thousands of female workers are proceeding with equal pay claims against the council following a court of session ruling last year, as campaigners say workers employed by the council in female-dominated roles such as cleaning and catering have been paid up to £3 an hour less than those in male-dominated jobs like waste collection. The strike began at 7am on Tuesday after years of legal disputes between unions and Glasgow council over the underpayment of staff in female-dominated roles such as cleaning, with employees earning up to £3 an hour less than those in male-dominated roles such as bin collections.
GMB Scotland organiser Rhea Wolfson said members would bring the city to a “standstill” to progress negotiations. Thousands of women are pursuing equal pay claims against the council after the court of session, Scotland’s civil court, ruled in their favour last year. GMB and Unison picket lines were set up outside the city chambers on George Square and other sites, including refuse depots.
Glasgow council said all early years establishments, additional support for learning (ASL) schools and mainstream primary schools would close on both days, though all mainstream secondary schools would remain open. Home care services for around 6,000 people will also be affected by the industrial action. Rhea Wolfson, a GMB Scotland union organiser, said the previous Labour administration in the city was to blame for the original pay inequality at the centre of the dispute.
Unions said they feared action could be taken against bin collection and street cleaning workers if they refused to cross picket lines. But city officials were now obstructing a manifesto promise by the current Scottish National party-run council to settle 12,000 outstanding pay claims. There had been 21 meetings this year, with no meaningful progress, Wolfson said.
The local authority said it had been exploring all options to avert the strike. “It’s not just a show of frustration. It’s specifically triggered by the lack of progress over the last 11 months of meaningful negotiations,” she said. The strike, Wolfson said, was to pressurise Aitken into breaking the impasse.
A Glasgow council spokeswoman said: “We understand why many of our workforce are angry about equal pay and we are also very aware of the depth of feeling there is behind this industrial action. “Equal pay is not a gift to be given, it is a right for our members to demand. At the moment, 8,000 of our members have gone on strike today because they have lost faith that that demand is going to be met.”
“However the council is already committed to delivering equal pay and reaching a negotiated settlement on claims. There is nothing that the strike can achieve that we are not already doing and we are anxious to see everyone back around the table in good faith to move things forward. Aitken told BBC Radio Scotland progress was being made in the talks. The council had brought many jobs at the centre of the dispute, previously with the arm’s-length body Cordia, back under full council control and had now harmonised pay.
“At the same time, the way union leaders have approached the strike has been hugely disappointing. We believed we had an agreement on providing life and limb cover for our most vulnerable citizens – indeed, the unions told the public that cover would be in place. “We’re working towards an agreed settlement by the end of this year [and] not any sort of low-ball offer,” she said.
“It won’t. There has been absolutely no meaningful effort from the unions to work with us and their membership to ensure that life and limb cover will be in place.” The campaign group Action 4 Equality estimates settling the outstanding claims could be around £500m to £1bn. Those figures are disputed by the council but Aitken has admitted it could cause it financial problems.
Glasgow council has sent letters to those affected informing them their care will be withdrawn for two days during the strike. Aitken could not give a figure for the total cost because no settlement had yet been agreed. She said the council had a financial strategy to settle the outstanding claims for back pay.
The spokeswoman added: “Rather than the reduced service we expected to be able to deliver with support from the trade unions; for many more people, there will now be no service at all. “I believe [the unions] are misrepresenting the scale of progress which has been going on,” she added. “There’s negotiations taking place right now. [It is] extremely complex. There’s a huge amount of data but as I said, we have 30 people working full time on this in order to make progress.
“We’ve bent over backwards to try to meet every demand that the trade unions have made. To be honest, I don’t believe their demands are strong enough to justify action of this scale.”
Glasgow council has sent letters to those affected, informing them their care will be withdrawn for two days during the strike.
A council spokeswoman added: “Rather than the reduced service we expected to be able to deliver with support from the trade unions; for many more people, there will now be no service at all.
“We are deeply concerned about the impact, but we have absolutely no alternative.”“We are deeply concerned about the impact, but we have absolutely no alternative.”
The GMB union said unions had agreed to all council requests to support the life and limb cover plan, adding the offer from union members to work through the strike to support vulnerable home care users still stands. Wolfson said unions had agreed to all council requests to support “life and limb” cover, adding the offer from union members to work through the strike to support vulnerable users needing home care still stands.
Wolfson said: “The council’s officers have been incapable of putting in place the most basic cover despite having three weeks to prepare and the offers we have made every single day to resolve the dispute.Wolfson said: “The council’s officers have been incapable of putting in place the most basic cover despite having three weeks to prepare and the offers we have made every single day to resolve the dispute.
“Our members work for some of the most vulnerable elderly and disabled people in our community and we would never do anything that could cause them harm.”“Our members work for some of the most vulnerable elderly and disabled people in our community and we would never do anything that could cause them harm.”
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