GMB Demands ‘Immediate Action’ From North Lanarkshire Council Over Equal Pay Pension Compensation
GMB Demands ‘Immediate Action’ From North Lanarkshire Council Over Equal Pay Pension Compensation
GMB Scotland has today (Thursday 15 February) demanded that North Lanarkshire Council bosses urgently recalculate and reward the pensions of hundreds of women affected by the equal pay scandal.
It has emerged that despite the resolution of second wave equal pay claims across NLC in 2016, claimants have not had the value of their pensions readjusted to reflect the settlement payments awarded after years of pay discrimination.
Percentages were subtracted from the equal pay settlements of the union’s claimants to reflect wage deductions for pensions, but NLC has yet to return the value to its employees.
GMB has now instructed its legal affiliate to pursue compensation for those members who are retired and those who continue to be underpaid as a result of the council’s failure to pay the necessary monies.
GMB Scotland Organiser Hazel Nolan said: “The failure of NLC to properly recompense our members’ pension entitlements following their equal pay settlements is legally and morally indefensible.
Pensions are deferred earnings and the decades of pay discrimination in council’s like NLC devalued the retirement of thousands of local women, which is why the recalculation of pensions was such an important part of the settlement process.
That our members are still waiting for the value of their pensions to be readjusted nearly two years after settlements were reached with the council is shameful and we have been left with no choice but to pursue this through the appropriate legal channels.
These women have cared for our elderly and vulnerable, cleaned our schools and fed our kids; delivering the proper remuneration for their pension funds and enabling dignity in retirement is not something this council should be swaying over.
At best this is maladministration by the council but at worst they are unlawfully retaining money that belongs to our members. This requires immediate action from the council otherwise they will find themselves back in the courts.”
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Contact: GMB Scotland Organiser Hazel Nolan on 07921 885786 or Peter Welsh, GMB Scotland Communications, on 07976 447077
