Labour promises law to end equal pay injustices in next Parliament

SCOTTISH Labour has pledged to bring forward equal pay legislation in the next Parliament to right historic wrongs.

The party said it would try to follow the success of Labour MSP Monica Lennon in the last Parliament and introduce the proposal as a Member’s Bill.

Ms Lennon’s worldleading Bill to end period poverty attracted such wide support it was eventually backed by the SNP and became law.

The new pledge came as Scottish Labour launched a Women’s Manifesto it said would put women at the heart of Scotland’s recovery from the pandemic.

The Close the Gap organisation has said empowering women’s under-utilised skills and talents could unlock £17 billion of growth in Scotland’s economy.

The proposed Equal Pay Act would use central government funds to help councils and other public bodies meet historic equal pay claims, many generated on Labour’s watch.

It would also force all public sector bodies and organisations with more than 250 employees with public sector contracts to publish equal pay reviews.

Scottish Labour deputy Jackie Baillie said an equal pay act would “end the scandal of low pay, value women’s work equally to men, lift families out of poverty, and it’s good for the local economy, too.”

Asked if Labour was trying to put right pay scandals which arose in Labour-run councils, Scottish leader Anas Sarwar said: “In hindsight it’s clear that justice was not done, and we do have to right those wrongs.”