Council workers’ pay deal agreed
Council workers agree to package
Published:
A HISTORIC deal over equal pay for council staff has finally been agreed after nearly 10 years of fighting.
Union leaders today said Aberdeen City Council’s “single status” pay deal was “a step in the right direction” at getting rid of inequality between male and female-dominated jobs.
About 9,000 of the council’s workforce are affected by the equal pay deal.
A total of 45% of them will see their pay go up.
The £10.2 million package will see about 13% lose out as their jobs are downgraded – although their pay will be protected for three years and their jobs could be changed to ensure the pay doesn’t fall.
The average drop in pay is £1,150 compared to an average rise of £1,400.
A total of 50 employees will see their pay drop by more than £5,000 and 300 will see a rise of more than £5,000.
Some staff reported losses of up to £8,000.
Ballots from all three unions representing city employees came back yesterday in favour of a deal.
Council bosses had already warned it was the best they could offer and had threatened to impose the deal if it was not agreed on.
As reported in later editions of yesterday’s Evening Express, Unison voted by 865 votes to 465 to accept the deal.
At a meeting in the Summerhill Community Centre , the two remaining unions also backed the plans.
Unite T&G voted by 378 votes to 206 to accept it and the GMB saw a slim 232 to 190 vote in favour of the deal.
Councils in Scotland first agreed to try and introduce equal pay packages in 1999 because jobs such as cooks and cleaners were historically lower paid than other jobs which required the same level of skills.
In 2005, there was mass uproar at proposals with many people losing thousands of pounds and the council was forced to go back to the drawing board.
When the deal was finally put forward this year, unions voted against it.
And today there were still some staff unhappy with the result.
One road sweeper voted no to the deal, as his pay will drop by £2,500.
said: “I am losing £60 a week off my pay. It’s an absolute disgrace.
I don’t know how they can call it equal pay when there are people losing money.
“The council gave us a sweetener of £600 if our pay was dropping, but it’s an absolute rip off.
North-east regional organiser for the Unite T&G Tommy Campbell said: “It is a step in the right direction.
“If you compare it to the catastrophe of 2005 it is a huge leap.
“Equal pay doesn’t necessarily mean fair pay.
“There will still be examples of unequal pay and if individuals want to challenge their pay, they will have union support.”
GMB regional organiser Janet Adams said: “This means that we just move on now and all issues get addressed like people’s arrears.
“I think it will offer a bit of stability for employees of Aberdeen City Council and I think that is what people need.”
Aberdeen Unison rep Fiona Smith said: “We now have a mandate to accept the package.
“It was an improved package from what was offered before.
“Some of our administration and clerical staff lost out by £1,000 to £4,000.”
Aberdeen city councillor Kevin Stewart said: “I am delighted with the results.
“The city council will now be aiming to work with the trade unions to make the implementation of the Equal Pay and Modernisation deal as speedy as possible.”
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