tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4893301059394577332.post3265362137954108298..comments2023-06-03T05:12:41.011-07:00Comments on Peter Cranie: A Trade Unionist and Green Talking About BrightonPeter Craniehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00360575849841504671noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4893301059394577332.post-34621934454921414562013-06-27T04:41:49.134-07:002013-06-27T04:41:49.134-07:00The idea of loans to cover pay reduction shows com...The idea of loans to cover pay reduction shows compassion, but actually the original offer from the council was better than that.<br /> <br />The offer contained three years' compensation as a lump sum - not just "protected pay" which is a more usual mitigation for pay scale reduction.<br />Negotiations had always entertained the possibility of increasing the compensation and that may well have happened under the new offer. The new offer may also contain opportunities for workers to get new skills or responsibilities and thus justify a higher position in the pay structure - without that improvement having to be applied the the whole workforce.<br /><br />One point widely misunderstood about this dispute is that allowing the refuse workers to keep their current allowance would create a catastrophic hole in the council's budget. Massive extra cuts in services and compulsory redundancies would follow.<br /><br />Some of the Green Party criticism of the Brighton & Hove council group fails to come to terms with that dilemma. Some of us can't see past the principle that it's always wrong to cut the pay of low paid workers.<br /><br />It is indeed a very bad thing to do that. No question. But the alternative of spreading a pay increase across the 8,000 council workforce, to level-up, would create something that is even worse.<br /><br />A test of a responsible council is whether it can face up to a forced choice between unacceptable options and pick the one that causes least harm.<br /><br />The (majority of) the Green council group in Brighton and Hove have passed that test, in my opinion.<br /><br />The other point I'd make, as a Green councillor, is that councillors should seek to be fair to the unions but councillors always have to act in the interests of the people they represent. They have to apply the revenue and the assets they control only in the public interest and not use them to save the Green Party any discomfort. As an employer, they have to be willing to hold up the employer's side.<br />John Coynehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15036419914381434840noreply@blogger.com