Council cuts dispute - 'It is down to a simple test of fairness '

The local authority is locked in a stand-off with its staff, strike action is threatening to disrupt services and militants are talking about wildcat walk-outs.

But there is something different this time.

The bone of contention is the way the council is honouring - or not - a promise made to thousands of workers.

It pledged to protect for three years the wages of those who face losing out following its equal pay review.

But many involved now find themselves worse off due to the blatantly unfair way the council is calculating their pay.

Anyone who took unpaid maternity leave last year or new staff who fell ill before accruing enough paid sick leave are now being punished in their pay packets.

In past disputes, the council has tended to fight on a point of principle that work patterns needed modernised to ensure the city delivered good value for tax payers money.

That is not the case this time, it is down to a simple test of fairness.

Council leaders will quite rightly expect staff to continue working until the dispute is resolved.

They in turn must now do the right thing by their staff.

Election move

There are few, if any, more respected political commentators than Professor John Curtice.

So when the Professor of Politics at Strathclyde University suggests permanently moving Holyrood elections from May to September his views must be listened to.

The Scotland Act, which brought about devolution, should not be considered written in stone.

Instead, it must evolve to meet the needs and demands of the nation.

And Prof Curtice offers a solution to a serious problem with the current plan, which is to let MSPs move the 2015 election six months either side of May that year.

Whoever wins the election in seven months will want the next one held as late as November 2015.

But every other political party - and quite possibly the rest of us - will be looking to boot them out by November 2014.