Birmingham Single Status

Many of our fellow workers and shop stewards would have us believe that the appalling single status pay cuts are the result of Tory/Lib dem policies. They are not. In Wolverhampton 20% of our fellow public servants are facing pay cuts. Wolvo is a Labour run council. Labour, Lib Dem and Tory councils up and down the country are cutting wages. This is a-political at a local level. But our shop stewards and unions have a vested interest in blaming it on the politicians of the hour. They don't want the spotlight of blame to fall on them - it is they who screwed us!

The agreement was signed in 1997 by local government employers and the trade unions. It followed a series of successful employment tribunals over equal pay. Shockingly, the agreement placed the burden of addressing this issue less on employers, and more on taking money off other workers (in many cases low paid themselves) to fund the agreement. It was a disgraceful agreement for the trade unions to sign, and one which contained a 'zero cost'. The Unions knew this, they knew no money had been promised by the then government to pay for this. They agreed to the staggering pay cuts we face today.

We should be asking questions of our Unions. Why did you agree to this shoddy agreement in full knowledge that this would bring massive pay cuts for some?