Am Bratach No. 209
March 2009
editor@bratach.co.uk

Robin Hood in reverse

Highland Council is apparently hell-bent on reducing the wages of its poorest paid employees whilst increasing the pay of thousands of better off staff — under cover of a “job evaluation” exercise.

In a letter published in the West Highland Free Press on February 27, councillor Carolyn Wilson (pictured), chairman of the council’s resources committee, conceded that 12% of non-teaching staff, including many clerical and administrative workers, will have their salaries cut from April 2011 — as the overall wage bill for non-teaching staff is raised by a cool £7 million in the present year alone.

We asked the council: Has the job of every staff member at the receiving end of this bombshell been examined and found to be overpaid, and, if so, by whom? Has it been explained to them why they are no longer worth what they were before? Is it true that affected employees are not allowed to use the services of job analysts when they file an appeal against their downgrading? If so, why on earth are employees not permitted to use experts to help them marshal their arguments? Is it because the council knows full well that their arguments will not stand up in the light of day?

Their reply referred us to a hand-out to councillors, signed by highly paid chief executive Alastair Dodds (£136,695 per annum), which answered none of our questions, but explained what the council was up to. When we dared question the council’s “explanation”, we were reproached for using language that indicated we were not tackling the subject with an “open” mind.