09 August 2002
Public Finance has learnt that the EOC, chaired by Julie Mellor, is likely to be approached to fill one or more of the independent posts on the new commission, which will be set up by local government employers and unions over the next few weeks.
It will investigate allegations of low and unequal pay across councils and will report its findings by next September. They will form the basis of wage negotiations in the sector from 2004.
Hinting at the potential make-up of the new body, a source close to the current round of local government pay negotiations said: 'Don't be surprised if the head and other members are from the EOC. They would have the full support of both local government employers and the unions.'
But a spokeswoman for the EOC said 'none of the organisation's senior staff had yet been approached'.
The commission will study union claims that councils have failed to address long-term pay differentials across the sector - particularly for women and part-time workers - despite the two sides settling on a potential pay agreement for 2002/03.
Heather Wakefield, national secretary for local government at Unison, said: 'The [current] proposals are not the end of the battle against low pay in local government. We have to tackle the structural issues that have led to long-term decline. We want the commission to examine the single status arrangements, low pay, and the gender pay gap.'
After months of deadlock over the 2002/03 settlement for council staff, a breakthrough was made on August 5. The three unions threatening to escalate strike action unless their 6% claim was met - Unison, the GMB and T&G - agreed in principle to a compromise deal brokered by the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service.
It will mean council workers receive wage rises ranging from 7.7% to 10.9% over two years. A minimum wage of £5 an hour, rising to £5.32 in 2003, for the lowest-paid staff has also been agreed.
The package will be put to union members and individual councils over the next six weeks. It is the first multi-year deal for local government workers in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and echoes other settlements made in the public sector over the past few months.
Plans for a second day of national strikes by council workers on August 14 have now been shelved.
But Charles Nolda, chief executive of the Employers Organisation, warned against assuming that councils would accept the proposed settlement.
PFaug2002
