Secretary's
Report 2006
Single Status equal pay and pensions dominated 2006
Equal Pay, Single Status and Pensions have continued to dominate
the branch agenda over the past year with issues such as the national
strategy for shared services set to become of equal importance
as this year progresses.
The Branch has continued to press our employers to hold to their
side of the bargain with respect to Single Status and Equal Pay.
A significant difference in perspective has emerged in that we
are seeking harmonisation of conditions between former Manual
and APT&C posts whilst our employers are seeking to modernise
pay and conditions in a manner that would mean an erosion of existing
enhancements such as shift payments, weekend enhancements and
the definition of the working week.
The Branch has invested significant resources to ensuring that
progress is achieved to deliver the long awaited (and legally
required) Equal Pay structure, whilst ensuring that low paid women
who have a legitimate "historical" claim have gained access to
the appropriate legal assistance and advice.
The failure of Council to deliver an equality proofed Job Evaluation
Scheme by the target date set by them (October 1st 2006) has now
brought forward the potential for further claims by low paid women
who had accepted a buy-out for historical inequality and the Branch
is currently liaising with UNISON's Pay Equality Group for the
purpose assessing the potential for progressing these claims to
an Employment Tribunal.
The cost of delivering Equal Pay has lead our employer to threaten
job losses to negate the cost of delivering pay equality and Branch
negotiators have been acutely aware that we have a duty to deliver
Equal Pay whilst protecting terms and conditions for all workers
as far as is reasonably practical.
UNISON continues to campaign for Government money to back up
their own legislation - they must deliver on this to make equal
pay a reality. Pensions There was huge support for the strike
against cuts in pension rights and the Government backed down
for a second time over the issue.
The support of our members and that of our sister trade unions
have wrung some concessions from Government, however, whilst some
progress has been made it is clear that there will be some detriment
applied to some existing and new scheme members alike.
The protection offered to our colleagues in Health and the Civil
Service have not been afforded to Local Government workers for
purely financial reasons. The long awaited judicial review on
the issue supported the employer's position.
Motions from last years AGM
Equal Pay: The Service Conditions Report updates on the
work done throughout the year.
Housing Stock Transfer: The Scottish Conference we called
for is being arranged by Scottish Council.
Disability Leave: We progressed this to National Conference
along with Discrimination in Pensions. Our motion on Underfunding
in Social Care was passed at Conference and we made progress
with Aid, Trade, Conditionality and Forced Liberalisation and
Global Warming.
Although our Palestine motion was not heard at Conference,
the issues in it were passed. We had considerable success with
our motion on Protection of asylum seeker families. Motion
8 on this year's agenda outlines that in more detail.
Scottish Dimension
The Branch continues to play a full role at Scottish level. John
Stevenson is a member of the Scottish Committee, chairs the
Communications & Campaigns Committee and edits the Scottish bulletin
and website. We also have strong representation on the Black Members
and Disabled Members Groups. Matthew Creighton is a member
of the International Committee and the Local Government Committee.
Irene Stout sits on the Local Government Committee.
Branch Organisation
Single Status, if delivered this year will require us to revisit
our Branch structures, there being no need for posts dealing specifically
with former Manual and APT&C conditions. We will therefore be
placing before the AGM a motion that will allow for a Branch Development
Plan and a revised branch structure to be placed before members
as part of the consultation exercise on the final Single Status
proposals.
As a Branch we have continued to both recruit and retain members
but we must ensure that our organisational structures remain robust
and relevant with respect to delivering the level of service required
by our members.
Branch Office
The Branch office staff, Support Officer Monica Niven and Support
Assistants Nicola Lee, Julie-anne Finlay and Eileen Thomson have
had another busy year with preparation for pensions action and
the huge amount of work generated on the Equal Pay front. Our
thanks go to them all for their hard work this year.
We continue our quest for new more accessible premises and work
is continuing with the support of the Scottish and the National
union to bring this matter to a conclusion.
I would appeal to all members to be mindful of the fact that
our staff have the right as all workers should have to be treated
with dignity and respect at all times. No matter the frustration
members may have, I would ask that our staff are seen as being
part of the solution and not the problem.
An interesting development has been the increase in the number
of non union members who have contacted the office seeking advice
and support. I would encourage non members to join UNISON prior
to contacting our office as a refusal to offer assistance often
offends.
People
This year has been particularly difficult, there having been
further difficulties within the Branch Officer Team due to illness
and injury. I am pleased to report however that all have recovered
and have continued to deliver a high quality of service to our
members.
The Branch office is a hectic place and Officers have had their
plates full with the range of issues that have faced us. That
often means that they come under increased pressure because they
cannot get back to people as quickly as they would wish. My thanks
go to them for the enormous work they put in.
My thanks also to our Stewards throughout the Branch for their
essential work. We could not operate without them. The more we
have, the easier the job gets and we need to encourage many more.
Restructuring at Scottish level saw us lose the services of Billy
McAllister (Regional Officer) after seven years. We thank Billy
for his support guidance and patience and wish him well in his
new role covering West Lothian and Higher Education.
Nancy Kelly has now been allocated to our Branch as Billy's replacement
and we look forward to working with her over the coming year.
We also saw the retirement of the Tom McLeod the Branch Health
and Safety Officer, we wish him well and thank him for his contribution.
John Stevenson stepped down from the Branch Secretary post last
year and my thanks go to him for his support and guidance on policy
matters.
George Lee
Branch Secretary
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