| UNISON City of Edinburgh Branch |
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BRANCH CALLS FOR YES VOTE IN BALLOT It's decision time for job evaluationAfter 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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