GMB: Women workers still being betrayed on equal pay
Ministers have betrayed the thousands of women working in Scotland’s public sector still being denied equal pay, according to GMB Scotland.
The union has slated the hypocrisy of politicians preparing to mark International Women’s Day while refusing to pay many the same as men in comparable roles.
The union has written to local government secretary Shona Robison accusing the Scottish Government of allowing councils to spend millions of pounds fighting equal pay claims instead of settling them.
The Scottish Government and councils are preparing to mark International Women’s Day on Sunday but GMB, which is bringing equal pay cases in many local authorities, warned indefensible delays are undermining ministers’ public commitment to equality.
Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, said the union had warned Holyrood ministers of a widening pay gap across the public sector in November 2024 but, despite assurances, progress towards equality remains glacial.
In her letter to Robison, Gilmour said: “Women workers continue to face delays, obstruction, and lengthy tribunal processes while councils expend significant public funds contesting claims rather than delivering justice.
“This situation raises serious concerns about the use of public money. Local authorities are spending millions of pounds on legal fees, tribunal costs, and interest payments rather than resolving equal pay claims through negotiation and settlement.
“These are resources that should be used to deliver services and ensure fairness, not to prolong injustice.”
Gilmour contrasted the Scottish Government’s apparent reluctance to intervene with UK ministers at Westminster pledging to strengthen enforcement of equal pay legislation and tighten reporting requirements to tackle gender disparities.
Despite equal pay legislation being in place for 50 years, thousands of women in council roles, including in care, cleaning, and catering, endure poorer terms and conditions than colleagues in jobs mostly filled by men.
The union is fighting equal pay cases in a series of councils across Scotland. Glasgow City Council has already agreed to settle almost 20,000 cases costing an estimated £770 million.
Cara Stevenson, who leads GMB Scotland’s Women Campaign Unit, said some councils, Falkirk, for example, have dealt with the issue swiftly and fairly but many others are continuing to run up needless legal bills while only delaying the inevitable.
She accused local authorities, such as Dundee, West Dunbartonshire and Fife, of spending huge sums to delay delivering equal pay while paying lip service to the Scottish Government’s Fair Work guidelines.
Stevenson said: “It is shameful that we are still even talking about equal pay, that this is an issue still to be resolved in modern Scotland, and that councils are still allowed to spend public money defending the indefensible.
“Councillors and officials are clearly reluctant to be in post when the music stops but ministers are complicit in allowing them to continue kicking the can down the road.
“The Scottish Government has the influence and the financial leverage to make equal pay happen and working women all across Scotland will be asking why it has not yet done so?
“International Women’s Day must be more than an opportunity for more warm words and empty promises of equality tomorrow. Women deserve better today.”
The union is calling on ministers to convene a national summit bringing together councils and unions to detail a strategy for resolving outstanding claims. It also wants a commitment to targeted funding to allow authorities to agree settlements swiftly at the start of the next parliamentary session.
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