• CONVEYANCING
• EMPLOYMENT LAW
• EQUAL PAY

• FAMILY ISSUES

News

Birmingham Post - October 13th 2006.

The days when men and women routinely received different salaries for doing the same work are long gone.

But more subtle forms of discrimination remain, as the case of the council workers launching a group action against Birmingham City Council shows. The women claiming compensation were paid less than men in what might be considered similar occupations.

They were not actually doing the same job. But if cooks and cleaners are paid less than road workers and labourers, it means in practice that female employees are paid less than men.

Despite all the changes in society over the past 30 years or so, there are still some professions dominated by one gender or another.

In principle, it is possible to argue that a labourer should be paid more than a cook, regardless of the gender imbalance, if one believes that the job requires greater skill, or a vacancy is harder to fill. But one suspects the council will face a difficult task using this argument in court.

One set of workers is very well paid, thanks to a series of bonus payments negotiated by trade unions, while another is very poorly paid. The level of the disparity is impossible to justify.

It is not only the council which is at fault here. Unions appear to have done an appalling job of representing women workers, in stark contrast to their efforts on behalf of men.

In fact, the trade unions have been ridiculously successful in obtaining cushy deals for some of their members.

They cannot be blamed putting the interests of their members first. That is their job.

But the pay arrangements in Birmingham City Council are a reminder of the benefits of introducing an element of competition in the provision of services.

So-called privatisation of public services causes problems of its own, but it is unlikely a private contractor would have allowed bonuses to spiral out of control in this way.

While it cannot be right for men and women to be treated in such a different way, this does not mean pay structure for men was acceptable.

Overall, the situation in the city council is a huge mess - and one which only the legal profession will ultimately benefit from.

If the likes of Carvers get a fairer deal for female workers they will have earned their fees - but it is council tax-payers who will foot the bill.