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All the local government trade unions have now agreed to the Scottish
LG Employers final pay offer of 2.95% from April 2004 plus 2.95%
from April 2005.
Local Government Committee issued this briefing in October 2004
to explain the background.
A
BRIEFING ON PAY 2004PURPOSE OF PAPER. This
briefing is to explain the history and current position on the Pay Claim and Offer
for 2004. BACKGROUND The
fifth and final stage of the current pay settlement expired on 31 March 2004.
The Trade Union Side of the Scottish Joint Council required to submit a claim
for the revision of the existing spinal column points and the new hourly rate
spinal column to the Scottish Employers. This was the second claim under the new
separate Scottish bargaining machinery and the Scottish Executive’s financial
arrangements. The Scottish Local
Government Committee at its meeting on 26 August 2003 agreed to recommend the
following claim - An increase
of 5% on all spinal column points effective from 1 April 2004. An
increase of 5% on all spinal column points effective from 1 April 2005. An
increase of 5% on all spinal column points effective from 1 April 2006. This
to be underpinned by a Minimum Wage of £6. 60 per hour as at 2006. Also
that the claim would not include other service conditions improvements. THE
CLAIM. A letter together with
a full briefing was sent to branches 3 September, 2003 asking branches to consult
with members on the size, shape and content of the 2004 pay and conditions
claim for Scottish local government employees. The consultation exercise took
place during a six-week period during 3rd September to 18th
October 2003. The Scottish Local
Government Committee then met on 13 November 2003 to consider the result of the
branch consultation exercise being:~ 6,380 or 80% in support of the claim and
1,610 or 20% opposed to the claim. The Committee therefore approved the proposed
claim for submission to the Trade Union side of the Scottish Joint Council for
consideration. The Trade Union Side
of the Scottish Joint Council met on 26th November to consider the
size, shape and content of the claim. However, two of the Unions had not completed
their consultative exercise therefore the Trade Union Side were not able to submit
a joint claim at that time. The Trade Union Side of the Scottish Joint Council
reconvened in February, 2004 and agreed the following claim:~ The
claim comprised of two phases: - A
flat rate increase of £1000 per Annum on all Spinal Column Points, underpinned
by a Minimum Wage of £6:00 per hour with effect from 1st April, 2004.
- An increase of 5% on all Spinal Column Points with effect
from 1st April 2005.
The
settlement was to run for a period of two years from 1st April, 2004
to 31st March, 2006 to meet with the Scottish Executive’s financial
settlement timetable for local authorities. The
claim was lodged with the Employers on the 25th February, 2004. THE
EMPLOYERS The Employers conducted
a consultative exercise with the 32 Councils. At the Scottish Joint Council meeting
held on 7th June, 2004 the employers responded to the trade union side’s
pay claim with a first and final offer as set out below:-
- 2.95% on all spinal column points, on all scales, with
effect from 1st April, 2004
- 2.95%
on all spinal column points, on all scales, with effect from 1st April,
2005
The settlement
was to run till 31st March 2006. The
Trade Union Side of the Scottish Joint Council agreed to consult with those members
conditioned to the Scottish Joint Council’s National Agreement on Pay and Conditions
of Service. The trade union side
were of the view that the offer was the best offer that could be achieved by negotiations. CONSULTATION
ON THE EMPLOYER’S PAY OFFER. UNISON
conducted a consultation exercise with 33 branches in accordance with the agreed
procedures. The consultation period ran from 8th June, 2004 to noon
on the 2nd July 2004. The
result of the consultation showed that 31 branches had responded by the deadline.
28 branches voted to accept the employer’s offer with three branches voted to
reject the offer:- City of Edinburgh, East Renfrewshire and Renfrewshire. Overall
14,077 members have voted to accept the offer (68.5% of the votes cast) with 6,445
members voting to reject the offer (31.5% of the votes cast). The number of members
recording a vote in the exercise was 20,522 (25.5% of the membership eligible
to vote. This reveals that over two
thirds of members voting and 93.5% of branches voted to accept the employers’
offer. The TGWU and the GMB were
also conducting a consultative exercise. However, one of the unions extended its
consultative exercise to mid July, 2004. At its meeting
held on 27 August 2004 the Trade Union Side received and considered reports on
the consultation exercises conducted by each union on the Employers' Pay Offer.
The consultation exercise had resulted in the GMB and TGWU rejecting the offer,
whilst UNISON accepted the offer. Therefore, the Trade Union Side was not in a
position to reach a settlement at present. This was reported to the Employers
Secretary on the 31st August. 2004 CURRENT
POSITION. The position is a role
reversal from the last pay negotiations where UNISON rejected the offer whilst
the two unions accepted the offer. This resulted in UNISON conducting a ballot
and subsequently undertaking industrial action. The other two unions had on that
occasion respected UNISON’s position and waited until the industrial action by
UNISON was concluded. The current
position is that the TGWU and GMB are conducting ballots on taking industrial
action. The ballots will be conducted over the next 4 to 6 weeks but we have not
been advised of the timetable to date. The
view of the Scottish Local Government Committee is that we must not undermine
the dispute with the employers and respect the position of the members of the
other two trade unions and their consultative and balloting procedures and wait
for a conclusion. At this point there
is no way of knowing when a settlement will be achieved however, as the settlement
will be effective from the 1st April, 2004 it will therefore include
a backdated payment when a settlement is reached. top | 
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