End Two-Tier Pay In Perth & Kinross Council Schools
GMB Scotland calls for end to two-tier pay in Perth & Kinross Council schools
This two-tierism in a major Scottish local authority is completely unacceptable and should shine a light on the procurement practices of our council says GMB.
GMB Scotland is calling on outsourcing giant Mitie to pay its cleaning staff in six school campuses across Perth & Kinross Council (PKC) the living wage of £8.25 an hour.
Sixty cleaners employed by the sub-contractor remain in receipt of the National Minimum Wage (NMW) of £7.20 or less, significantly less than their counterparts employed by Tayside Contracts.
The disparity also affects up to thirty janitorial staff who earn £1 an hour less than their PKC counterparts, while also working shift and weekend work patterns.
Now GMB Scotland is urging the Bristol based firm, a FTSE 250 company which generated revenues of £2.2 billion and pre-tax profits of nearly £97 million last year, to do the right thing and award the Scottish living wage rate of pay to its workers.
GMB Scotland Organiser Helen Meldrum said: “Mitie can more than match the Scottish living wage rate for our members, who are keeping our kids’ schools clean and tidy day in and day out.
“We have been in consultation with the company and PKC representatives throughout the summer in the hope of delivering parity for our members before the schools returned but its dragged on for too long now.
“This two-tierism in a major Scottish local authority is completely unacceptable and should shine a light on the procurement practices of our council – the £8.25 an hour Scottish living wage should be the absolute minimum for every worker in local government employment.
“We want PKC to increase the pressure on Mitie and we will also ramp-up our campaign to end this company’s resistance to what is a very basic demand from our members to end this inequality.”
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Contact: GMB Scotland Organiser Helen Meldrum on 07958 156838 or Peter Welsh, GMB Scotland Communications, on 07976 447077.
