LABOUR “created the mess” behind Glasgow’s fire-and-rehire row – but that is “no excuse” for the actions of the SNP, a veteran trade unionist has said.
Richie Venton, a prominent trade union organiser and long-standing socialist campaigner who was one of the founders of the Scottish Socialist Party (SSP), made the comments during an interview on The National podcast.
Glasgow City Council last week announced plans to sack 23,000 non-teaching staff, hiring them back on new contracts following a breakdown in talks with unions.
This led to backlash, leading to a pause and an intervention from the Scottish Government. Many Scottish Labour politicians also hit out at the move, which Venton said was “total hypocrisy”.
He explained: “You cannot understand what has happened currently if you don't look at the background, the explanation for why. In 2006, the Labour council, which ruled the roost at the time, introduced a work, pay and benefits system which baked into its foundations rampant wage discrimination against women.
The socialist campaigner added: “Women had pay imposed upon them by the Labour council of anything up to 3 pounds an hour less than male workers in jobs that were measured as of equal value. And actually, not only that, but the Labour councilors spent at least 2.5 million pounds of council taxpayers' money to pursue court action to prevent equal pay being introduced over the subsequent decade, right up until they were dumped by the electors in 2017.”
He went on: “So, Labour has created the mess.”
Venton added, however, that this is “not a mitigation” for what the current SNP administration has done.
If you want to listen to the full episode, click below:
