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The Fair Pay Action Group |
About Us
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FPAG was spontaneously formed in late 2007, when Nottinghamshire County
Council announced the wages it had attached to its job evaluation exercise.
As shock and disbelief at the results quickly turned to disgust and anger,
a number of employees began making their feelings known, and a number of websites
sprung up - an online petition, a forum, a blog. Workers voiced their outrage
on these sites, and when a protest was suggested, the various
sites and individuals took up the call, and a successful protest took place outside
County Hall on the 1st November 2007. This point marked the real beginnings of FPAG, as Peter Taylor and others began organising and requesting volunteers. The Fair Pay Action Group was formed and its first meeting took place on 26th November 2007. To date, the group has formed a small committee, held successful rallies outside County Hall, held meetings of affected staff in the council chamber and engaged with local councillors and MP's. The group has set up various online web sites, mailing lists and facilities for the use of Nottinghamshire workers and other affected councils. The beginnings of a 'fighting fund' have been set up, and online donations are active. The group has also been in contact with, and provided assistance to, organisers of groups in other Authorities where staff are facing similar cuts - it is estimated that up to 250,000 staff will be suffering pay cuts across the country due to JE. The group has started a national petition on the 10 Downing St website. The plight of so many people needs national attention - sadly, the one organisation that should be cordinating all of this, UNISON, is allowing local schemes to be determined. How long before national terms and conditions of employment disappear? Come and join our campaign! FPAG is not affiliated to, or associated with, any political party or union. About Nottinghamshire's Job Evaluation Nottinghamshire County Council has been working on job evaluation since 2002 (set as the base line for jobs to be evaluated). NCC chose a two-tier approach, using National Job Evaluation (NJE) for most employees, and the "Hay" scheme for the top 1,500 earners of the authority. The Hay staff evaluation was completed in 2004, while NJE staff had to wait until July 2007 (when job scores were advised and staff could lodge appeals) and then again until October 2007, when the final salary details were published. Initially the NJE scheme used the "Gauge" system for determining job descriptions. A number of complaints were made about the interview procedures used and so the scheme was abandoned and additional 'interviews' were conducted via a paper exercise, with no face-to-face interview. The "Hay" scheme resulted in some staff facing major salary reductions (whilst some other staff gained significantly). The NJE scheme has resulted in some 3,500 staff facing pay cuts (albeit after pay protection of between three and five years). These range from hundreds of pounds to many thousands and represent pay cuts of up to 30%. FPAG was born because workers felt that their union, UNISON, betrayed the staff losing pay and did not actively campaign (unlike in some other authorities) to fight the cuts - the union entered into negotiations with the Authority with a pre-condition to positively promote the outcome and urge members to accept the findings! So, in Nottinghamshire, two battles have ensued. |
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