Can I Have My Money Back?
I know this sounds like the title for a Gerry Rafferty song.
But this post is my small tribute to a group of male janitors from Stirling - who pursued an equal pay claim with Action 4 Equality Scotland - in the teeth of opposition from their trade unions.
In 2006 - if I remember correctly - I went to visit this group who were all very interested in equal pay - and the work of Action 4 Equality Scotland.
Problem was - they were all warned off by their unions - who said they had no chance of a successful claim - because equal pay was only for women.
But janitors didn't receive bonus payments - unlike other lower graded male jobs such as refuse workers and gardeners.
"So, why don't we have a claim?", the Stirling janitors wanted to know - not unreasonably.
Well the answer - of course - is that they did.
The only difference was that the women workers had first to win their own claims - which opened the door to what was called a contingent claim by the male janitors.
And the rest is history - but now all the janitors want to know if they can get their union contributions back.
For all those wasted years in which the unions did nothing about equal pay - for the janitors individually or as a group.
I think the answer to that is probably not - and the cost of pursuing a refund would outweigh the likely benefit in any event.
So as one of the janitors said to me - the best response to the unions is that 'we were proved right in the end and that's all that counts - along with the cheque that's now in the bank'
A case of he who laughs last - laughs longest.
But this post is my small tribute to a group of male janitors from Stirling - who pursued an equal pay claim with Action 4 Equality Scotland - in the teeth of opposition from their trade unions.
In 2006 - if I remember correctly - I went to visit this group who were all very interested in equal pay - and the work of Action 4 Equality Scotland.
Problem was - they were all warned off by their unions - who said they had no chance of a successful claim - because equal pay was only for women.
But janitors didn't receive bonus payments - unlike other lower graded male jobs such as refuse workers and gardeners.
"So, why don't we have a claim?", the Stirling janitors wanted to know - not unreasonably.
Well the answer - of course - is that they did.
The only difference was that the women workers had first to win their own claims - which opened the door to what was called a contingent claim by the male janitors.
And the rest is history - but now all the janitors want to know if they can get their union contributions back.
For all those wasted years in which the unions did nothing about equal pay - for the janitors individually or as a group.
I think the answer to that is probably not - and the cost of pursuing a refund would outweigh the likely benefit in any event.
So as one of the janitors said to me - the best response to the unions is that 'we were proved right in the end and that's all that counts - along with the cheque that's now in the bank'
A case of he who laughs last - laughs longest.
