Devastated council workers in Wolverhampton have set up their own website to vent their fury over wage cuts which will leave many thousands of pounds out of pocket.
Around 9,500 employees at Wolverhampton Council were told this month whether they will be paid less as part of a major national salary shake-up known as single status, aimed at ending pay inequalities.
Some distraught staff clai-med they faced a drop of up to £11,000 per year and co-uld lose their house as a result.
Leaflets detailing the new staff website, www.wolvessinglestatus.com, have now been handed to employees on their way to work at the Civic Centre.
So far many of those posting comments on the website say they don’t believe claims by council bosses only a minority of workers will lose out, with some also set to enjoy pay increases.
One of the website organisers, who asked not to be named, said today: “We have been kept in the dark about how results were achieved. Feelings are running high and the forum has provided an outlet for people to try and co-ordinate a response.”
One disgruntled worker wrote: “I am potentially facing the prospect of not being able to pay my mortgage and as a single parent I have no back-up.”
Wolverhampton City Council’s acting director for performance and development Anne Dokov said today: “Though the vast majority of council employees will stay the same or gain under the proposed equal pay package, we fully appreciate that some staff will be very disappointed.”
Unison members will be meeting on Tuesday at the Civic Centre.
41 Comments
I cannot access the above website, is it filed under the same heading as *People who have benefited from single status*?
To anyone who works in retail earning minimum wage, come join Wolverhampton Councils cleaning crew instead! Post Swindle Status you’ll be on £8.50+ per hour. You don’t even have to clean that much!!!
Someone from Cleaning Services or the SS Team tell me I’m wrong if I am!
How can their be a democratic vote on if the pay model should be accepted if the City Council has already purchased the vote of Unisons majority?
i work for street scene if thats what u mean and i get £8.01 an hour 37 hour week wer did u get £8.50 plus? lol
can dudley council workers have a pay cut if they where paid for what they do they wouldnt earn the minimum wage bring it on
ITS ABOUT TIME THAT WOLVERHAMPTON
STARTED TO AJUST THE MONEY THAT THEY PAY OUT IN WAGES BUT THEY STARTED IN THR WRONG PLACE THEY SHOULD HAVE STARTED WITH COUNCILORS PAYMENTS
Phil,
I wasn’t getting at street scene. The £8.50 plus came from a colleague whos relative is a cleaner. From their SS letter, their new scale equates tojust over £8.50 per hour. Not bad when the national average is £5.25.
Welcome to the private sector.
look at the comments about cleaners there still looked down on by most. learn to stick together else you will get no ware
How can we stick together? When Unison ballot there members all the cleaners will vote to keep the Single Status pay model, which will potentially mean the rest of the staff will be forced to take the pay cut. We need to get all employees that have taken a cut to join Unison even if its just to vote.
If everyone is on a ’single status’ salary, where is the motivation to increase your performance and work ‘above and beyond your duty’?
You’ll end up with people working to rule, not pulling their weight, or doing shoddy work because why should they do any better than the person next to them now?
The whole point about scaled or ‘negoatiated’ salary is that you have to earn it, and show you’re worth it! It makes sure that everyone does their very best!
TO SEE WHAT I MEAN LOOK AT ANGRYMAN COMMENTS “DONT CLEAN MUCH” I NOTICE HE SENT AT 1.27PM BET HE AT HIS DESK NOT WORKING . ALSO SAYS AVE WAGE IS 5.25
MIN WAGE IS 5.52
JINX
WHATS POINT OF JOINING UNISON THERE NOT SAYIONG A LOT ABOUT .WONDER HOW MANY UNION
OFFICIALS ARE LOSING ..
Perhaps if other staff had stuck for cleaners in past over wages . cleaners would now stick up for you
jinx
I do object when cleaners now get paid more than men I know who do heavy manual labour ! So, in years to come will these men be given equality pay because they are now relatively under paid - the whole thing stinks !
I didn’t get a good education and attend university to fill the pockets of cleaners!!!!
REPLY TO ANONYMOUS COWARD
REF:WORKING TO RULE ETC:
WHATS NEW BEEN HAPPENING FOR YEARS THATS HALF OF PROBLEM
HAVING TO EMPLOY EXTRA TO COVER WORK . THATS WHY WAGE CUTS
JINX
CHARLIE WHOS TAX PAID FOR YOU TO GO TO UNI …
What’s the point in telling your kids “get qualifications and learn skills”. Go for a Cleaning job, it seems it will be the best thing to do. Experience, skills and qualifications count for nothing. Teachers will find it difficult convincing kids they need skills!
EDUCATION STAFFING .
PERHAPS YOU SHOULD HAVE A GO AT COMMERCIAL CLEANING . THEY NEED SKILLS AND EXPERIENCE TRY CLEANING UP AFTER EDUCATION STAFF
Hold on there everyone! You are all fighing each other on these posts, keep to the subject, people are losing money they can ill afford, lets try and work out a solution to suit everyone. as a family we are losing 2 lots of pay and technically by default another one in the family as well. Can anyone tell me of one single person who has benefited from the single status, and not by just a few pence but by a significant amount? Answers on a very small postcard please!!!
Sue,
All the manual workers have had a pay rise hence the arguments and animosity from people like Jinx. They obviously don’t care for others as long as they do well out of it and they cant supply any constructive feedback to support it. These sites should be limited to information and ideas not rubbish stupid comments.
All the manual workers have had a pay rise hence the arguments and animosity from people like Jinx. They obviously don’t care for others as long as they do well out of it and they cant supply any constructive feedback to support it. These sites should be limited to information and ideas not rubbish stupid comments.
cleaningup.. all i have done is show how divided you all are .. untill you sort out between you your not going to get any ware .
jinx
cleaning up .. you should hear comments being made to cleaning staff and the way they treated
jinx
Our joint force is supposed to be Unison hence the name, but it’s not in this case as far as I can see.
Dave Jinx, my parents paid taxes for their entire working lives so I could go to Uni, however since I’ve been in employment myself a number of years I think I’ve more than paid back into the system!
CHARLIE . JUST THINK OF THE TAX YOU GOING TO SAVE WITH YOUR WAGE CUT
JINX
CHARLIE. The good side of the pay cuts you will pay less tax
jinx
So Jinx,
What is it you do for your 11k backpay?
ITS FUNNY NO ONE AS BEEN SUBMIITTING COMMENTS AT NIGHT ONLY IN THE DAY COULD IT BE THAT THERE SITTING AT THERE DESK WRITING INSTEAD OF WORKING
“CLEANING UP” WHAT HAVE I DONE
FOR 11K CLEANED UP AFTER THE MESSY OFFICE STAFF FOR ONE YOU SHOULD TRY THE STATE THEY LEAVE THERE OFFICE AND TOILETS IN ..
JINX .
BY THE WAY I NOT AT DESK I START AT 5AM TILL 9AM THEN BACK ON 6-9PM
“No ware” Dave.. Are you a cleaner by any chance? Your grammar leaves a lot to be desired!
yes just a cleaner why should i go to uni when they get pay cuts and i get good back pay and a rise . just come right can pay my out out standing balance on my house with it. then retire due to back back due to cleaning sue the councill for some more then claim disabibity and enjoy my self
jinx
im a refuse collector,on the special uplift lorry,75 a lifts per day,between 7- 10 ton a day,in all weather,no bonus no productivity pay,nothing,all for take home £240,aint nobody gonna stand in front of me and tell me im overpaid.
Single status is a farce. im a clerical officer earning £16 but according to this stupid system, that’s too much and will take a pay cut of £1,300 which i cant afford. With regards manual workers getting 6yrs back pay is wrong when everyone else can only have back pay from Jan 08, this should apply to everyone. How can a stapped-for-cash council afford to pay out tens of thousands they dont have.
Ive been a cleaner for 17 years and its about time we where recognised,MOST of us are dedicated to keeping our areas clean,someone says we are now getting £8.50? wheres that come from LOL, when we get the pay rise it will be £6.33 and there are plenty of vacancies if anyone is interested.Some office staff in high paid jobs are that important that when they leave they are not even replaced(that speaks for itself)if a cleaner doesn’t turn up for work they are missed right away,also cleaners are not second class citizens most choose to put there family and children first and prefer to be at home when the children come in from school,also we don’t have to have notices put on the back of toilet doors telling us to flush the toilet after we have used it.if pay is going to be cut by up to £11,000 what on earth are they getting? at lot more than £6.33.
*cleanerandproudofit*
you noticed when your off they have to put 2 supervisors on to cover your work most who have never done the job in the first place
To Dave Jinx,
You have obviously got too much time on your hands, as, on 13th Dec 07 you e-mailed 11 times, starting from 7.07 - 5.00; twice on 14th Dec and once on 2nd Jan. What makes you so special to have received such a big payout? The whole point of single status is for people to be paid a fare wage, for a fare days work! What I would like to know is what qualifications you were able to get at school?
I have continued to study at my age to get somewhere in life; even at the age of 40. Have you even attempted to improve your status by finding a better job? - somehow I doubt it; I would really like to know.
I am all for equal opportunities; if a person has worked hard to make something of their lives, then yes they should get a good pay. The point is people have lost out. From Jan 08 the cost of living will begin to increase,
prices all around us are going up, eg. electricity, petrol, travel. It is hard to make ends meet as it is! Even the council tax will escalate. Jinx, do you think it is fare for pensioners etc. to fork out to pay extra council tax for the next few years for something that seems to have been a very big mistake; especially by UNISON? They have managed to negotiate a great package for domestic/cleaners etc. I know people who take work home in their own time and do not get paid; these people are from clerical to management. Standard working hours are 37, people only received pay for 37 hrs! Morale is at its lowest as people fear for their jobs and future; not just for themselves but for their families. The whole situation is not funny; something needs to be sorted!
There are no jobs out there, you only have to buy the Express and Star on a Thursday to see that.
The Authority and National Government are griding this country bit by bit into the ground!
Mr Jinx is not a member of staff at WCC, he certianly isn’t a cleaner there and he hasn’t recieved this magical £11k backpay he’s spouting on about.
He is infact a very sad a member of the public, with nothing better to do than wind people up.
Consider this Mr Jinx, a large number of people at WCC work very hard to make sure the services people expect are delivered. The only reason there is a public oppinion of slackness is because it’s a Public organisation. Private companies keep this in-house, as they don’t have to share it.
Imagine if you worked hard like most do (I can only assume you don’t by the amount of time you have to post on the E&S and WCC sites) and your employer told you, “sorry mate, I know we took you on and said we’d pay you this much, and you’ve based you whole life on that, but well… we’ve changed our minds.” You would be more than a little upset.
Add to this some small minded little person going “neh neh nehhh… look at me!!!! I’ve gained so much!!!”, you’d probably have a go at them too. If anyone is serving to divide the workforce its you. No genuine person would post and deliberately gloat to those who have lost.
Shame on you!
In response to anyone out there who thinks that the cleaning staff will be earning £8.50 per hour let me set the record straight. If and when the pay model is agreed the rate for a cleaner will be £6.32 per hour.For anyone out there who thinks that this is an easy job option please forward your application form A.S.A.P to the cleaning department as they are always on the look out for new staff. Full training given to the sucessfull applicants.I am sure that all you out there in your offices would soon notice if they were not cleaned or if you used any of the councils other facilities you would appreciate them being clean. it is nice that the cleaners are now getting recognised even if it is because of sour grapes!!!!
Can anyone from Wolves please give me the average single status pay for Level 2 and Level 3 TA’s?
Dudley council dragging their feet, I’m concerned about how much we’ll be loosing!!!!!
A 50 percent drop in pay for me,taking home less than 11 grand a year.Looks like work to rule will soon apply,roll on the next election