Time For Alex to Wake Up and Cut the Big Bosses Pay

Alex Salmond keeps telling us he has the right to govern Scotland and to an extent he is right, he party does have the largest block in Holyrood. But his decision in 2007 to form a minority Government means that he has to work with others to get things done. If Aaron Sorkin were to really want to top The West Wing in behind the scenes dealing he should really look at the foot of the Royal Mile.

When Labour announced the Pre-Budget Report the SNP immediate reaction was to snipe about the cuts that would end up being made to the Scottish budget. That is the reaction of opposition not Government, and here comes the rub. We are in a recession, not just in the UK but also in Scotland. Therefore the ability to raise taxes, whilst stimulating the economy and keeping up levels of spending is difficult. If Salmond doubts that he should ask any person trying to make ends meet on a tight budget.

Today Tavish Scot has offered a hand to ensure the 2010-11 budget passes. Many across the country have taken pay cuts either in actual terms or real terms over the last year just to survive. Many of these have been on the lower pay levels and took the cut to ensure that their bills would continue to be paid, after all a job is better than no job. Yet at the top end of the scale the people who have some responsibility for the budgets, the policies the initiatives that we have gotten into are insistent on maintaining the level of pay increase they have become accustomed to.

The proposal is simple, cut the pay for the top earners working for quangos, health boards, councils, universities and government agencies by 5%. By doing so it protests the pay of those working in the front line and frees up some money to maintain other budgets. As Tavish said:

"We need to see the highest paid across Scotland in the public sector taking their fair share of the financial pain that we are all in.

"And we want to make sure that we protect people on the lowest incomes working in the public sector by taking something out of the top level."

As I blogged earlier it was the question that Tavish raised with the First Minister on Thursday. There are 1,200 in NHS Scotland alone earning over £100,000.

Morning Quickie on the Threatened Tube Strikes

It's been a long time since my daily commute was hit by a Tube strike having not lived in London since the mid 90s. However, I understand that the Underground Drivers are considering striking over the 1.5% pay rise that they have been offered. They are saying it is not in keeping with those in similar jobs.

Maybe they should look over their shoulder at those they are transporting, not so much the bankers, but the shop workers, administrators, call centre workers, whoever. Ask themselves how many of them, often on lower salary than the train drivers, even managed to get as big a raise as 1.5% last year and are expecting the same again next.

Pay Packet Apartheid

There were moans from public sector employees last year when the government demanded that they accept below inflation pay rises. However, as they nogotiated long term deals over 3 years in some sectors at below the then rate of inflation. These were still between 2% and 3% per annum so we now find that the public sector, with their greater job security, have also gained an advantage in salary over those in the private sector.



With the retail price index measuring inflation at 0.1% for January and trending to dip in negative figures and deflation when last months figures are announced later this month private sector employees are finding their salaries frozen. Some are even finding they have to take a 20% cut and a four day week as their companies try and economis through the recession. Not the case with some of the public sector employees whose Unions tend to seal them into longer term deals but even look for wiggle room on an annual basis.

I intimated earlier it was bad enough that a company that the Government had a 68% share in who had a £177,777 loss per employee*. Now we have the Government who insisted in prudent pay increases for the employees over whom they had some control finding that the long term deals are far outstretching those that many private sector employees can expect.

*That is based on the loss divided by the number of employees as reported in 2007.

All Silent from Nats on Pay Front

You probably won't read much about this in the Scottish blogosphere as there only a few small voices of non-SNP out here. But you'll hear even less about this from the Scottish Government themselves in fact so far they have "said nothing at all" with regard to the public sector pay dispute.

As today's Scotsman points out there are two reasons for this, first is the one they would have you believe is the one they want to lay the firmly at the feet of Westminster, must particularly Alistair Darlings reticent, and increasingly indefensible stance, over the 2% cap on public sector pay increases. The second however is that even if they wanted to break the salary cap all local authorities in Scotland are hamstrung by the SNP called for, and taken up, freeze on council tax increases and would have to rely on Holyrood to provide extra funding to do so.

So while the SNP, if they were in opposition, would be up in arms demanding action for Scots struggling to make ends meet they cannae of will nae act to allow public sector workers employed by local authorities to have a fair inflation compensatory wage. So while low wages is an argument the Nats cannot win the Scotsman is expecting us to see them attack Westminster on the inflationary prices ignoring the fact it takes two to tango.

Meanwhile of course on Newsnight Scotland the other week all three of the Labour leadership candidates defended the right for a fair wage for the public sector workers. So whoever comes to lead them this weekend Labour in Scotland may well be supporting strike action this winter in opposition to their Westminster colleagues while the Nats will be siding with Gordon Brown and Mr Darling. Oh what a tangled web that could create this autumn.

Local MP to Fix Minimum Wage Injustice

Hat's off to Michael Connarty this weekend. The
Sunday Mail tells of the bill he about to introduce to ensure that restaurant bosses do not pay the minimum wage from the tips that are earned my their employees.

A tip as defined by the Mirrian Webster Online Diction is:

Tip 10 Function:noun
a gift or a sum of money tendered for a service performed or anticipated is an reward

Note that this is for the service rendered as a reward, not as a right which is what the pay people recieve is. I'm glad Michael is seeking to close this particular loophole in minimum wage legislation.

Although I'm still upset that his name is not on this list, it is good t see he isn't fully on the dark side.