Unison bans all talk of equal pay at annual conference to protect legal case

Unison, the UK’s largest trade union, has vetoed equal pay discussions at its annual conference to avoid “legal jeopardy”.

The union is currently facing more than 900 claims by lawyers representing female members who believe they have been shortchanged in equal pay disputes.

Unison officials have expressed concern that any comments about its equal pay policy could prejudice its legal case.

“The union strongly believes that Unison’s policies and tactics on equal pay are right,” the union said in a statement.

But delegates were told that the issue of equal pay claims could not be debated during the conference in Bournemouth this week.

Sign up to our weekly round-up of HR news and guidance

Receive the Personnel Today Direct e-newsletter every Wednesday

Email(Required)

OptOut

From time to time, we will send you emails about selected products, events and services from Personnel Today and OHW+ - but you can choose to opt-out at any time. If you do not wish to receive these emails, please tick this box.

Email

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

Δ

The GMB union was found guilty of sex discrimination earlier this month over the way it negotiated equal pay claims for members.

Unison, which has 1.3 million members, almost two-thirds of whom are female, has taken legal advice about the implications of the ruling against the GMB.