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BRANCH CALLS FOR YES VOTE IN BALLOT
It's decision time for job evaluation
After over five years of wrangling, the Council has at
last come forward with proposals for a job evaluation
scheme.
Now UNISON negotiators and the Branch Committee are asking
members to vote YES to a new job evaluation scheme which
we believe is best able to meet the needs of members.
Here we try to answer some of your questions about job
evaluation. l
Why do we need job evaluation?
In 1999 members voted in a ballot for a new deal with
councils across Scotland called 'Single Status'. The aim
was to address pay inequality and get a fairer single
pay structure for all staff.
Every job in local government was to be evaluated through
a recommended national job evaluation scheme. The scheme
would assess jobs equally and fairly on agreed and transparent
criteria. You know why your grade is what it is.
It creates one pay scale for all staff, doing away with
the historic manual and APT&C differences.
Why the delay?
Councils asked for extension after extension and Edinburgh
refused to implement the nationally recommended scheme.
What's different now?
Edinburgh has come up with a new scheme that UNISON has
examined in detail. We now believe it to be better suited
to the job situation in Edinburgh than the national scheme
with less disruption for staff.
Why do we need pay equality?
Firstly because it is ridiculous in this day and age
that we still have jobs done mainly by women that are
paid less than comparable jobs done mainly by men. But
it is also the law. Due to councils dragging their heels,
Edinburgh UNISON alone lodged over 1,700 grievances with
more to follow. If successful, claimants would be entitled
to back money for up to five years.
Why don't we just leave it to the courts?
It might come to that but UNISON wants pay equality for
all staff, not just for those who take cases. And we want
it now, not after years of legal wrangles. We also want
to avoid job losses and build security of employment.
This can only be done by fair agreements that last for
the future. One step (but only one step) in this direction
is a fair job evaluation scheme.
Can we ignore it?
No. Job evaluation is part of the deal signed in 1999.
The council must come up with a scheme to meet the legislation.
It is better that the union and its members are part of
that process. The union cannot associate itself with standing
in the way of an equal pay system. It is what we have
long campaigned for.
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