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Solidarity with Glasgow City Council Workers |
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Workers in Glasgow's Learning Disability and Physical Disability day care services have been on indefinite strike action from 16 October. Once again Unison members in Glasgow are using the weapon that the City Council understand best - industrial muscle. Eighty-four per cent of members voted to take strike action in the recent ballot. The strike involves over 250 Unison members across all 12 Centres in the City.This excellent vote demonstrates the anger felt and the desire to take industrial action.
The dispute centres, as has several others this year, on the implementation of the Single Status Agreement. The workers have been allocated to the wrong role profiles/grades under the Council's Workforce Pay and Benefits Review. No objective application of the job evaluation scheme could come up with the current allocations for the range of posts across these services. Most workers in these services are also in pay detriment, and whist their pay is protected at the moment, it is unacceptable that the Council have failed to recognise the valuable job these workers undertake with some of the most vulnerable members in our society. The Council had the opportunity to correct its mistake at the Review hearings. They failed to take it. The Council's rules not the workers. The Council have offered to resolve the dispute through a service reform that would alter the remits of most workers and half the number of Centres. The Council claim this will allow them to increase community based provision by altering the structure of the workforce whist at the same time offering all workers in pay detriment either new posts at a new higher grade, new jobs out with daycare services or voluntary redundancy. The Council's offer is short on detail, and with the focus of the workers being on securing a fair role profile that reflects what they currently do, it was decided at the last members meeting to continue with the strike action as planned. Positive links were made with carers organisations and service users in the run up to the strike and will be an important factor in determining the outcome of the dispute as the Council attempt to drive a wedge between the workers and those who rely on the services. Unison members are not opposed to changes that aim to improve support for service users however delivering a fair grading for the workforce should be the foundation on which to build service reforms. Over the last year the local Unison Branch has won several important concessions from the Council by threatening or taking strike action. It has been shown that strike action works and whilst each dispute is different it is clear that another success can be achieved if members stand together. Messages of support and donations to Glasgow Unison Branch, 18 Albion St, Glasgow. Email is
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