GMB Organiser, Michelle McCrossen, said: “Today’s announcement is a humiliating admission of failure on the part of Birmingham City Council’s officials and leadership.

“Not only are they responsible for creating this crisis through years of discriminating against their own staff, but even they no longer believe themselves capable of fixing it.

“For decades the Council has stolen wages from its low-paid women workers, running up a huge equal pay liability that has brought Birmingham to the brink." 

They said today's news will be worrying for staff and residents. 

Equal pay cases are happening across retail as well.  

We revealed leaked documents that show a boost for the 55,000 claimants taking on Asda - where male dominated distribution centres have higher wages than the shop floor.

Eoin Treacy's view

Disputes about equal pay seem out of character with the times we live in. Surely everyone doing the same job is offered the same pay? The reality is, they are. That is not what this issue is about. The GMB union’s successful gambit is council officials are incapable of defending their job description methodology in court. That’s especially true when many people are no longer capable of differentiating between genders in public life.

There is obvious danger in discussing these kinds of issues because one risks being cancelled. However, there is nothing stopping men from applying for carer positions or women applying for warehouse positions. What generally stops people from applying for warehouse positions is the requirement for heavy lifting and often the need to be able to drive a forklift. Finding people to be refuse collectors also generally requires more money. 

Outsized settlements mean services will be cut and local taxation will increase. With 10% of councils in a similar position we can expect significant worker disquiet at reduced standards of living which will continue to fuel pay demands.

It is quite likely Wal-Mart, which owns Asda, will be much better equipped to defend job descriptions in court. If they fail, there is nothing stopping them from withdrawing from the market.
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