GMB Launches Equal Pay Claims - Discriminatory Dundee City Council Bonus Scheme

GMB Launches Equal Pay Claims Over Discriminatory Dundee City Council Bonus Scheme  

GMB Scotland has warned Dundee City Council it is presiding over a discriminatory pay policy and facing a potential liability of tens of millions of pounds in wages owed to low-paid women workers.  

Thousands of women employed by the council and it’s ALEO’s, Tayside Contracts and Leisure and Culture Dundee, may have lost out on thousands of pounds each in earnings because of a pay agreement that council chiefs either suspect or know to be discriminatory, where male dominated jobs receive higher bonuses and enhancements than their female colleagues.  

By law men and women must get equal pay for doing ‘equal work’, this includes the basic rate of pay, pensions, bonuses and benefits. GMB has formally submitted its grievance to the council and is now launching equal pay claims on behalf of its members.  

GMB Scotland Organiser Helen Meldrum said: “The City of Discovery has a sex discrimination problem. It’s working women are being cheated out of money every hour of every working day by the council.  

“The bonus arrangements for workers in services like building and maintenance amount to unequal treatment for their colleagues in services like home care and school support, despite this work being of equal value.  

“It’s clear the council has either no intention of ending this discrimination or doesn’t know how, and that’s why we are now lodging equal pay claims on behalf of workers with a set of clear aims:    

• Compensation for lost earnings as a result of the discriminatory bonus scheme. 
• Ending discriminatory pay policies throughout Dundee City Council and it’s ALEOs. 
• Proper value of all employees’ work through a thorough job re-evaluation process.
• Deliver pay justice for women by raising standards, not by cutting pay or services.

“Workers affected will never get the time back that they’ve worked, but they can get what they are owed through the recognition of this discrimination and proper value for the vital work they do for all of us. That’s what GMB is fighting for.”  

ENDS 

Contact: GMB Scotland Communications on 07976 447077 or email GMBScotCampaigns@gmb.org.uk