Women win equal pay battle against council

Posted 12/01/2012

Hundreds of female council employees are celebrating after Edinburgh City Council agreed to settle on an employment law equal pay case.Staff including classroom assistants and social workers have been battling the local authority over salaries for seven years and will now receive millions of pounds in total.Finance leader of the council Phil Wheeler stated two important issues had to be considered before it was decided to drop the case, which was launched due to differences in pay scales between men and women.”One is meeting our legal and moral obligations to staff who may have been disadvantaged by historic unequal pay. The second is our responsibility to use public money wisely,” he said.Mr Wheeler admitted it has been a “difficult” process for everyone concerned in the case.In November last year, 174 cooks, cleaners, caterers and care staff won their equal pay case against Birmingham City Council, giving them the right to earn the same bonuses as male employees.