By Alan Richardson

ALTHOUGH ONLY 588 of over 4000 staff said they “agree strongly” with Perth and Kinross Council’s single status pay proposals, the authority maintained “the majority” of its employees are behind the controversial plans.

The pay harmonisation plan was denounced by workers’ union Unison when it was unveiled last month and, despite the council’s protestations, it is hard to see how the survey responses show staff have given it a ringing endorsement.

The council surveyed staff through independent firm Electoral Reform Services, and announced in a statement on Friday that “three in five” workers back the proposal, which was forced on councils to eliminate disparities in pay levels.

But close examination of figures shows only 41% of those surveyed (4112 people) returned their forms, described by the council as a higher than average response.

Of those, 14.3% said they strongly agree with the proposals, with a further 27.3% agreeing slightly; 14.4% disagree slightly and 25.9% disagree strongly. The remainder did not agree or disagree.

Furthermore, a higher proportion, 46.1%, disagreed with new grading structures than the 40.7% that agree.

Deputy leader of the council Ian Miller said, “We are pleased that so many of our employees have taken this opportunity to tell us what they think of the proposals.

“There is no doubt that single status is the right thing to do. It is about modernising terms and conditions of employment and delivering fair and equal pay for employees across the council.

“By expressing support for or by indicating no objection to the majority of proposals, employees have reinforced the council’s commitment to implement single status within a reasonable timescale.”

The survey also intended to give staff the chance to raise particular concerns. Findings show that these include weekend working, overtime and car allowances.

Chief executive Bernadette Malone said, “Our priority is to do our best for our employees in trying to reach a fair settlement. As a responsible employer, we will act on what employees have told us.

“Our next step will be to discuss with the trade unions those areas where there are concerns.

“It is very encouraging that already at this stage in the process three out of five employees have expressed no objection to or positive support for the proposals.”

A Unison spokeswoman said talks are ongoing to find an “acceptable solution.”

She said it was hard to say whether the survey really reflected worker opinion in the manner the council put forward, as the response rate was low and a lot of the questions were irrelevant to most staff.