The GMB union, the largest employee union at Birmingham City Council, has called for the council to enter ‘meaningful’ talks around how it intends to solve its equal pay challenges.
This week the council declared itself effectively bankrupt after revealing it did not have the funds to settle up to £760 million in equal pay claims, which date back several years.
A technology upgrade earlier this year had revealed new details of a number of pay claims, after which the council ordered an urgent spending freeze.
Yesterday, the West Midlands employment tribunal set a date of 25 November 2024 for a hearing that will determine whether the council’s job evaluation scheme is valid.
Birmingham City Council
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Councillors estimate that Birmingham’s pay liability could be growing at a rate of as much as £5 million or £14 million per month.
GMB organiser Michelle McCrossen urged the council not to wait until next November to settle its equal pay disputes.
She said: “After years of campaigning and years of stalling from the Council, Birmingham’s women workers will take strength from knowing they will finally have their day in court.
“But Birmingham City Council doesn’t have to wait another 14 months to end the discrimination and settle this dispute – they should sit down with GMB and sort this out now.
“That would be the right thing to do for the thousands of women workers whose hard-earned wages have been stolen from them, but it’s also the right thing to do for the council to save money and secure the future of the city’s services.
“It’s time for the council leadership to finally do what’s best for Birmingham and deliver pay justice.”
Many of the equal pay claims date back to 2012, when a group of 170 women won the right to proceed with their cases at the Supreme Court.
The women, who include teaching assistants, cleaners and catering staff, claimed that the council had failed to provide them with the same benefits and payments as men doing equivalent work.
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