Equal Pay advice to be issued to branches

The NEC received a draft of some legal advice which will shortly be issued to all branches in relation to negotiations on pay and grading in the light of the recent employment tribunal decision in the case of Allen –v- GMB.

It will be very important that the legal advice is circulated in full and without any additional comment made by or on behalf of the Union, because UNISON is involved in litigation, and the Union’s position could be jeopardised if internal Union documents are used against us.

It is fairly clear that the advice will urge caution on branches – and it is certainly the case that anyone involved in negotiations on pay and grading should be making sure that their Regional official is fully involved in order to ensure that branches benefit from the best advice.

I have read, and have an electronic copy of, the tribunal judgement if anyone would like to see it, and would be happy to attend any Branch Committees to discuss this topic further.