Equal Pay
The Daily Record comes off the fence over equal pay with this leader opinion column on recent events in South Lanarkshire.
No need for any further comment from me except perhaps to say how sad it is that 18 of our clients have died since Action 4 Equality Scotland started its campaign back in 2005.
Record View: Learn lessons of gender pay battle
OPINION
RECORD VIEW says if we want to build a fairer Scotland, then we need to start by paying women a fair wage for doing the same job as male colleagues.
Jean McFarlane (centre) with fellow claimants Liz Liddell (left) and Linda Thompson (right)
IT is an absolute scandal that the battle for equal pay for women is not won.
Despite legislation more than 40 years ago, the gender pay gap in Britain costs working women an average of £5000 a year in lost wages.
The gap is even bigger for women working part-time, who earn 35 per cent less an hour than men working full-time.
In the private sector, the pay gap is 20 per cent and, disgracefully in the public sector, there is a 13 per cent gap.
That South Lanarkshire Council, one of the biggest local authorities in Scotland, have been dragged screaming and kicking to settle an equal pay claim with their female employees is not scandalous, it is shameful.
To add insult to injury, the council blew an estimated £1million in legal costs trying to wriggle out of their obligations to their staff.
And they delayed their inevitable climb-down so long that 18 of the women victims claiming backpay have gone to their graves since their legal action began.
Now the council face a £75million bill for cheating women out of their fair wages. And this from a Labour council who should have known so much better.
Worse still, the council were yesterday trying to keep quiet about the staggering amount of money involved, claiming it couldn’t be revealed for legal reasons. This was utter nonsense, of course.
Fortunately, a number of council sources sickened by this appalling lack of transparency got in touch with our sister paper the Hamilton Advertiser to reveal the figure.
There are important lessons out of this episode that every public organisation in Scotland should heed.
There should be full transparency and equality in wages. You wouldn’t think that needs to be said but South Lanarkshire proves it does.
If we want to build a fairer Scotland, then it starts with paying women a fair wage for doing the same job as male colleagues.
That’s not special treatment, that’s equality.
IT is an absolute scandal that the battle for equal pay for women is not won.
Despite legislation more than 40 years ago, the gender pay gap in Britain costs working women an average of £5000 a year in lost wages.
The gap is even bigger for women working part-time, who earn 35 per cent less an hour than men working full-time.
In the private sector, the pay gap is 20 per cent and, disgracefully in the public sector, there is a 13 per cent gap.
That South Lanarkshire Council, one of the biggest local authorities in Scotland, have been dragged screaming and kicking to settle an equal pay claim with their female employees is not scandalous, it is shameful.
To add insult to injury, the council blew an estimated £1million in legal costs trying to wriggle out of their obligations to their staff.
And they delayed their inevitable climb-down so long that 18 of the women victims claiming backpay have gone to their graves since their legal action began.
Now the council face a £75million bill for cheating women out of their fair wages. And this from a Labour council who should have known so much better.
Worse still, the council were yesterday trying to keep quiet about the staggering amount of money involved, claiming it couldn’t be revealed for legal reasons. This was utter nonsense, of course.
Fortunately, a number of council sources sickened by this appalling lack of transparency got in touch with our sister paper the Hamilton Advertiser to reveal the figure.
There are important lessons out of this episode that every public organisation in Scotland should heed.
There should be full transparency and equality in wages. You wouldn’t think that needs to be said but South Lanarkshire proves it does.
If we want to build a fairer Scotland, then it starts with paying women a fair wage for doing the same job as male colleagues.
That’s not special treatment, that’s equality.
