Unions welcome agreement to settle historic equal pay claims in Birmingham
Unions have welcomed a legal agreement to settle historic equal pay claims affecting hundreds of women council workers.
Unison and the GMB said their members in Birmingham in jobs including teaching assistants, catering staff and care workers, will receive “significant” sums they are owed.
Unions said employees will be compensated for wages they missed out on as a result of being underpaid for many years, when compared with male colleagues doing work of equal value.
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Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Fair pay for work of equal value is what every employee deserves and what our union fights for every day, but far too many workers, particularly women, face persistent and unjust pay gaps.
“This victory for low-paid women will resonate far beyond Birmingham. It sends a powerful message that equality at work is not optional, it’s a fundamental right. It’s also a reminder that when women stand together to demand fairness, real change can happen.”
GMB official Megan Fisher said: “This agreement has been hard won by the women workers of Birmingham.
“After years of being paid less than they were worth, they stood up and demanded what was theirs.
“Public bodies cannot run from the mistakes of the past; they must confront and fix them.”
Leader of the city council Cllr John Cotton said: “When I was appointed as leader two years ago, I labelled equal pay the single biggest challenge that the council has faced and vowed to deal with the matter once and for all.
“We’re doing exactly that and this deal represents another key milestone on our journey. I want to thank GMB and Unison for working so constructively with the council to put right a historic wrong.”
The full terms of the settlement are confidential, but the city council said it confirms that: “Birmingham City Council acknowledges the shortcomings in how equal pay risks were handled in the past. These failures, which spanned many years and administrations, have had a lasting impact on our workforce and the trust placed in us by the people of Birmingham.
“We recognise that previous custodians of the council did not act swiftly or decisively enough to resolve these matters. As the current leadership, we are committed to learning from these mistakes and ensuring they are not repeated.”
