Single Status Update

UNISON has been in complicated, in-depth negotiation with management on Single Status for 18 months. Progress has been made in many areas but there are still issues to be addressed, particularly management's wish to reduce the overtime rate for Sunday working and to increase the working week to 36 hours for all. Back Pay for low paid women workers who have been paid unequally is also still to be agreed. Currently, management appear to have pulled out of negotiations. UNISON will be deciding on our next move in the coming weeks. It may be necessary to consider litigation through the courts.

2007-09-18

The Background

Single Status is an agreement between the unions and all councils nationally which aims to get rid of unequal pay in Local Government,.  For years, women Home Care workers, Care Assistants, School Meals staff and Mid-Day Supervisors have been underpaid by the council - simply because they are women.  In 1997, after years of pressure from the unions, all the council's in the country agreed to negotiate with each local union in every council in order to make sure these women workers were properly paid and everyone was treated equally. 

Single Status in Merton

In Merton, things started rather slowly and the council only sat down to real negotiations with us in November 2005.  They have now agreed to pay Home Care workers and Care Assistants a fair wage and these workers should see an increase in their take-home pay once the deal is signed.  However, in order to pay for the increase in wages for female staff who have been historically underpaid, the council wants to cut over-time pay, get rid of shift pay and other non-standard working payments, and make everyone work a 36 hour week for no extra pay (ex-Officers currently work a 35 hour week).  They also want the power to stop people getting their annual pay increment if they have had over a certain number of days sick or if they have been the subject of a Disciplinary or Capability in the previous 12 months.  UNISON does not agree with this and we are fighting hard to ensure that these proposals do not go ahead.

What about Back Pay?

The courts will pay up to 6 years back pay in cases where it is proved that women wokers have been underpaid.  UNISON has therefore asked for back pay for Home Care and Care Assistant staff that have been historically underpaid.  However, the council is refusing to discuss this.  If the council continues to refuse to negotiate on this, UNISON will go to court in order to fight for back pay for our low paid women members in Merton.

What Next?

UNISON won't sign up to any deal without the backing of members.  Once we reach a point where we think we have a deal that members might support, we will hold a ballot of all members.  This will give you a chance to say whether you are in favour of the deal or not.  We will make it clear what the impact of the deal will be on your personal circumstances so that you can make a fully informed decision.

Single Status Newsletters

To find out more, click below to read our Single Status newsletters.

  Single Status newsletters are in Adobe PDF format. To read these files you need Adobe Reader, which is available free of charge from the Adobe website in both PC and Mac format.