More than 1300 female UNISON members are a step closer today to receiving pay-outs that could amount to £60million in a mass equal pay tribunal ruling.
The women, who are employed as care assistants, home carers, kitchen assistants, cooks and night care assistants won their claim of pay discrimination at a tribunal in March 2006, but the employers appealed.
Although the appeal is ongoing, now their delight has been sealed because a tribunal ruled in favour of the unionÕs method of calculating back pay. This has the effect of increasing the value of their payments, whereas the
councilÕs method would have led to reduced compensation for members.
UNISON General Secretary Dave Prentis said:
ÒIt is fundamentally unlawful that more than a thousand women have been paid at a lower rate than male employees for equivalent work at Cumbria Council, and it is the employersÕ responsibility to immediately stop this injustice.
ÒWeÕre obviously delighted that the tribunal is making Cumbria stump up the back pay that is owed. But it is regrettable that the council would not settle through valid negotiation; instead we all had to invest time, money
and stress in going through the legal system. This is a warning to other employers: stop burying your heads in the sand and start delivering on equal pay, otherwise UNISON will litigate.
ÒOur union has a proud record on equal pay and has been successful in several ground-breaking cases on behalf of thousands of women members.
ÒUNISON has always been willing to take the risky, high costs cases on behalf of our members. We have not asked our members for a single penny towards the costs. ÔNo win no feeÕ solicitors can charge anything up to 25 per cent of any award.Ó
UNISON regional officer Sharon Mee said:
ÒÕNo win no feeÕ solicitors did not participate or represent their members at the Remedies Hearing, but some of their clients will nonetheless benefit from this successful judgment as a result of UNISONÕs hard work.Ó
The case is a result of historically agreed bonus schemes; some male employees enjoy bonuses that female staff in equivalent jobs do not. Others enjoy enhancements to their hourly rate of pay when working weekends or evenings, when women working similar hours receive only a basic rate of pay.
UNISON argued successfully to a tribunal in Autumn 2005 that this was an unlawful breach of the 1970 Equal Pay Act. The Act stipulates that it is illegal to discriminate between men and women in terms of pay.