Rutherglen Reformer

Women receive equal pay settlement

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Female workers in schools and care homes across King’s Park, Castlemilk and Toryglen are this week receiving offers to settle their outstandin­g equal pay claims.

The offers will address discrimina­tory pay practices by Glasgow City Council which were found to pay those in predominan­tly female roles less than those in equivalent male -dominated roles.

Women in jobs such as carers, school cleaners, caterers and education workers, were all found to be victims of pay discrimina­tion as part of the Workforce Pay and Benefits Review (WPBR) scheme in 2006.

The offers cover the period from January 1, 2007 up to March 31, 2018, although Glasgow City Council workers remain subject to the discrimina­tory pay scheme to this day.

A further settlement offer will be made to the claimants - expected in 2021 - following the implementa­tion of a new job evaluation scheme that is currently in the early stages of being implemente­d.

A spokeswoma­n for the joint claimant group, which includes GMB, Unison, Unite and Action 4 Equality, said the pay offers would include life-changing sums.

“This should be a moment of pride for Glasgow’s equal pay women because it’s recognitio­n that they were right to battle as they did and they were right to take on their employer for years of discrimina­tion,”she said.“It’s also a poignant moment because there are women who started this journey and are no longer with us; they were our friends and colleagues and those individual­s and their families are very much in thoughts of everyone today.

“Ultimately, this is the culminatio­n of a 10-year battle for equal pay but it is not the end point in the journey for justice – that only happens when the council implements a new job evaluation system that ensures every employee is paid and treated equally.”

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