Glasgow City Council to pay £770m to settle equal pay dispute

Thousands of council workers staged a strike over the dispute

Glasgow City Council has agreed to pay out a total of about £770m to settle a long-running equal pay dispute.

Payments will now be made to about 19,000 claimants, both current and former employees, by the end of 2023.

They will cover the "gap period" between an initial agreement in 2018 and the implementation of the new pay and grading system.

The deal was struck between the council and workers represented by Unison, the GMB and Unite and Action 4 Equality.

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Campaigners had said workers in roles such as catering or cleaning were receiving up to £3 an hour less than those in male-dominated areas such as refuse collection.

The case was settled at an estimated cost of £500m in 2019, but some claims were made too late to be included in the earlier deal.

In September, the city council approved a strategy to sell a number of properties, valued at about £200m, to settle the equal pay claims.

Under the plans, the properties - which include Glasgow's Kelvingrove Museum and Art Galleries and City Chambers - will be sold to a council-owned property firm before being leased back.

Kelvingrove Museum is among council properties earmarked for a sale and lease-back agreement

Speaking after the latest deal was agreed, council leader Susan Aitken said she was delighted the authority could "deliver the final stage of the pay justice that many Glaswegian women have fought long and hard for".

She said: "We always knew that the lag between the first agreement four years ago and putting in place a new pay and grading structure meant additional payments would be made."

Ms Aitken said the new pay and grading system would prevent future pay discrimination.

She added: "The complex process of replacing the council's pay and grading system to make it discrimination-proof is well advanced and will draw a line under the era of pay discrimination in Glasgow City Council."

Negotiations will now start to finalise the terms of individual settlement offers, including how and when payments will be made.

'Hard fought victory'

Trade unions welcomed the deal which will see payments issued by the end of next year.

Unite industrial officer Wendy Dunsmore said: "Crucially, the gap between the first agreement in 2018 and the unacceptable delays associated with the implementation of a new pay and grading system has in principle been resolved.

"This will ensure that settlements can now be made before 2024 which was the timeframe originally proposed by Glasgow City Council. There is a cost of living crisis with inflation soaring and this agreement will provide immediate and much needed assistance to families."

Shona Thomson, GMB Scotland branch convener, welcomed the "hard fought victory" for workers.

"We've come a long way in the fight for pay justice," she said. "However, there still remains the outstanding matter of council-wide job evaluations. GMB Scotland's focus and efforts will now be on delivering a new, fair pay system which will secure equal pay for the years ahead."

Unison regional organiser Mandy McDowall hailed the deal as the culmination of a 15-year campaign.

She added: "We now move on to the final stage of eliminating pay inequality in the future through the introduction of an equality proofed new pay and grading scheme. That will require further significant spending by the council in the years ahead."