Shame on the Scottish Executive this christmas
Tommy Sheridan writes in the Scottish Daily Mirror
December 17, 2003, Wednesday

I MAKE no apology for returning in this column to the plight of Scotland's nursery nurses.
The media has largely ignored their case for a decent wage, with local and national politicians continuing their patronising policy of supportive words - but no action to back them up.
Nursery nurses do a vital job for our kids' education in those crucial early years.
Nobody who starts out on a career in education does so in the hope of making themselves rich.
But surely to goodness the minimum anyone should expect is a decent living wage in line with the responsibilities of the job?
Our nursery nurses are being denied this basic right.
An average wage for these workers is just £13,361 a year and there has been no review of their pay since 1988.
Over the past year, the number of pre-school places has increased by four per cent, yet staffing levels have dropped by 13 per cent.
These facts give the nursery nurses a cast-iron case for a significant pay increase and new job description. Three years ago, they lodged a wage claim in a bid to address the low pay which blights their occupation.
But that claim was completely ignored by their employers, leaving the workers with little option other than to reluctantly organise industrial action.
In a ballot at the end of April, 87 per cent of nursery nurses voted in favour of strike action.
Many Scots are right behind them. In Edinburgh, more than 12,000 local people signed a petition in support of the nursery nurses in just a few days.
BUT employers seem to think it's their job to play Scrooge this Christmas.
Scotland's local authorities are represented by Cosla and, not only have they refused the very reasonable demands presented by the workers' union Unison, they have actively sought to set the workers against each other by attempting to negotiate individual local agreements.
I have questioned the First Minister in Parliament over the treatment of the nursery nurses and asked him to intervene with Cosla on their behalf.
My colleague Carolyn Leckie has lodged a motion calling for Cosla to settle to the workers' satisfaction before Christmas.
Scotland's politicians, however, seem to have very little to say about paying these vital workers a living wage.
Perhaps they are embarrassed by the fact that an average MSP is paid the equivalent of four nursery nurses.
And in Jack McConnell's case, it's the equivalent of nine nursery nurses.
Unison commissioned a poll to find out public attitudes to public sector workers.
And nearly 90 per cent of Scots thought public services would not be delivered successfully unless staff were paid a fair wage and treated fairly.
Who could disagree?
Ah yes... Jack McConnell and the Scottish Executive.
They seem to be happy enough taking large salaries from the public purse, while denying workers who play a vital role in the early years education of Scotland's children a decent wage.
Shame on them this Christmas.