GMB Welcomes ‘Significant Moment’ As Agreement Reached Over Equal Pay
Responding to confirmation today (Thursday 17 January) that Glasgow City Council and the Joint Claimant Organisations, GMB, Unison, Unite and Action 4 Equality, have reached an agreement that will lead to the settlement of 14,000 equal pay claims, GMB Scotland Organiser Hazel Nolan said: “This is a significant moment and is recognition of the value of women in this city, brought about by the women themselves understanding their own value and fighting for it together.
“Much will be said about the scale of the settlement reached but when you’re a worker on a wage what you’re selling ultimately is your time, and decades of systematic gender discrimination meant that women in Glasgow were forced to work longer hours for less.
“We need to be clear that this can only financially compensate women for the time stolen from them, the time that could have been spent with their families and loved ones can’t be repaid.
“What is important now is that the claimants and their families can have confidence in this agreement and in the process of delivery in the coming weeks and months.”
A great result for those that have been unfairly underpaid, but the council’s mismanagement of this issue means half a billion pounds of the city’s building assets have now to be mortgaged to fund it, and what are the long term financial implications of that ?