Glasgow council staff vote in favour of strikes over equal pay dispute

Staff affected by equal pay across a raft of Glasgow City Council services have voted to support strikes, over what the GMB calls the local authority’s failure to resolve outstanding equal pay settlements and replace its “discriminatory” pay and grading system.

In total, 97.8 per cent of ballots returned from GMB members in services including Glasgow Health and Social Care Partnership (HSCP), school cleaning and catering, and parking services, passed the statutory legal threshold for industrial action ballots in public services.

The result could mean a fresh wave of equal pay strikes affecting these services from as early as the end of March, with disruption also possible in the run-up to the local authority elections at the beginning of May.

What is GMB saying?

GMB Scotland organiser Sean Baillie said: “Our members need equal pay justice and an end to the discriminatory pay and grading system that remains in place.

“That’s the clear message this ballot result sends to the council officials who should be negotiating properly with our claimant groups and to every councillor seeking election in May.

“The council’s liabilities are growing every working hour of every working day and the cost will likely run into the hundreds of million yet again, so the situation is critical for our members, the services they deliver, and the city’s finances.

“That’s why we need an urgent negotiation process to be conducted in good faith between the council and the claimant groups, if strike action is to be avoided.”

How has the council responded?

A council spokesman said: “We are following the process agreed with unions at the time of the 2019 deal. We have made it clear we are ready to make offers on new claims – and are committed to discussing the gap period thereafter.”