Council offers free legal advice to staff
1 Nov 05
Glasgow offers to pay for independent advice on equal pay deal if staff reject "no win, no fee" lawyers
Glasgow City Council staff have been offered free independent legal advice to keep them away from "ambulance chasing" lawyers.
The authority is attempting to resolve the long-running dispute over the implementation of the 1999 equal pay agreement between unions and the 32 Scottish local authorities.
Glasgow City Council will be offering around workers a £40 million pay package and free legal advice. If these terms are accepted, councillors have promised that workers will see the money before Christmas.
The offer of free legal advice is an attempt to keep staff away from "ambulance-chasing" lawyers who are trying to tempt workers to sign "no win, no fee" agreements in order to seek better terms before an employmeent tribunal.
Irene Graham, the city council's spokeswoman on equality, said the council had worked long and hard with the unions to get the best deal for staff. She said that the authority did not believe that using lawyers was in anyone's best interest - apart from the lawyers - and that it could threaten jobs and services.
A spokesperson for Unison, which negotiated the compensation, said the danger of "no win, no fee" lawyers was that they may be able to win bigger compensations, but it could be short-term gain with long-term repercussions.
Glasgow City Council is the first local authority in Scotland to have reached an agreement on how to implement the settlement.