Union launches equal pay claim Community

The GMB union has launched an equal pay claim at Barnet Council on behalf of 400 women working as school support staff. It is the first claim of its kind at a London local authority.

The union argues that there are structural pay differences between school support staff who are mostly women, compared to Barnet’s refuse workers who are majority men.

Refuse workers receive a full day’s pay when they complete work early and some have received retention bonuses. If successful, members will be able to claim the pay differential going back six years, as well as the time spent settling the case.

Beverley Gunning, GMB Barnet branch secretary, said: “It is shameful that we must take Barnet Council to court to make them do the right thing”, adding that the union “will do whatever is necessary to fight for the money our members are owed after years of systemic gender pay discrimination.

“The longer it takes to settle this claim, the larger the settlement will grow.”

Recent equal pay claims against big retailers are also gaining ground, measuring up store-based against warehouse-based roles.

Workers at Asda, Tesco, J Sainsbury, Wm Morrison and the Co-op are all pursuing claims. Equal pay claims are lengthy three-stage processes that assess whether job roles can be compared, whether they are of “equal value”, and whether the employer can justify the pay differential. But they can result in huge payouts if successful.