Unison has won its second major victory in a month in a landmark equal pay ruling at an Employment Appeal Tribunal in Scotland.
Councils had argued employees could only seek equal pay compensation if they were based on the same premises or they had the same pay and conditions. This argument has now failed.| "UNISON’s equal pay campaign has defeated every contrived defence their lawyers have hidden behind. This charade has gone on too long. We want full compensation for all our members and that money must be paid now." Unison General Secretary, Dave Prentis |
Estimates claimed the council could be forced to pay up to £600m to the women workers who challenged the council’s decision to pay them bonuses of up to 160% of their basic salary.
The latest ruling by the Edinburgh Employment Appeal Tribunal could affect up to 70,000 workers across the UK, with claims of up to £30,000.
Unison General Secretary, Dave Prentis, said he was delighted with the latest ruling. ‘UNISON’s equal pay campaign has defeated every contrived defence their lawyers have hidden behind. This charade has gone on too long. We want full compensation for all our members and that money must be paid now.’
Jackie Gilchrist, who chairs the UNISON campaign for Fair Pay, said: ‘This is a magnificent decision for us. Our pay has been formally investigated by the EOC and still the employers refuse to recognise the value of our jobs.
We have gathered so much evidence about the demands of learning support work, but the courts have refused to look at it until now. They’ve got some reading to catch up on. There’s only one conclusion to reach at the end – our wages are going up.’
The transcript can be read here
