16.10.17
Council pays out £3.5m to workers in major equal wage ruling
St Helens Council has been ordered to pay £3.5m in equal payment claims by the Employment Tribunal.
The case has been ongoing for a number of years, going through the Employment Appeal Tribunal before the council chose not to take proceedings to the Court of Appeal.
The recipients of the claims were members of the GMB union, and some have now been awarded five-figure sums by the court.
This is the third major equal pay claim that has been won by the union in the north west, with Knowsley and Liverpool also paying out multi-million sums to claimants.
“This is a huge victory for GMB members at St Helens Council – and for equal rights in general,” commented Paul McCarthy, GMB regional secretary. “The authority used every legal argument they could to avoid paying out but after years of wasting everyone’s time they failed.
“We owe a huge debt of gratitude to Simpsons Solicitors who took on the case and will pass on 100% of the compensation – without taking a penny of members’ settlement.
“GMB will always fight inequality in the workplace on behalf of our members where ever we find it.”
The decision comes just months after the monumental equal pay victory for council employees in Glasgow which saw the Scottish council hand out around £250m in claims from female workers.
When approached by PSE, St Helens Council declined to comment on the ruling.
Top image: UK Supreme Court
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