City council facing equal pay claims worth "hundreds of millions"

The union said the claims could see the city council pay "hundreds of millions of pounds" in compensation, due to alleged structural pay differences between staff working in roles predominantly staffed by women - such as teaching assistants - and those roles carried out mostly by men - such as refuse collection.

GMB Organiser Rachel Robertson said: “Women working at Leeds have had enough of faithful promises to settle their equal pay claim. They’re fed up with endless delays and are now demanding action."

She added: “Thousands of them are owed millions of pounds and they want that cash in their pockets now.

“Until every one of them has received what they are owed, GMB will be ramping up the campaign for pay justice."

A spokesperson for Leeds City Council said the local authority prides itself on treating people fairly and is “determined to foster truly inclusive workplaces where there is no room for discrimination of any kind”.

It said it has taken a constructive and collaborative approach during discussions with the GMB union over the equal pay claims, and that it is pleased to have settled some elements of the claim last year.

The statement added: “Despite further discussions, we have, as yet, been unable to reach a settlement on the outstanding elements of the claims.

“We would stress that we are keen to continue talks with the GMB with a view to agreeing a settlement on terms that work for all parties.

“In doing so, we are mindful of our duty to the Leeds public – as the provider of a whole range of services that local people rely upon – to ensure that our budgets are managed in a prudent and robust manner, and any settlement must reflect that.”

GMB Union is coordinating a separate equal pay claim against Coventry City Council. It issued a call for more claimants to join its litigation against Coventry earlier this month, after complaining of "unacceptable" delays to settlement talks.

The news also comes as an external auditor's report revealed that Brighton & Hove City Council is facing more than 1,000 equal pay claims, the cost of which are currently “unquantifiable”.

Adam Carey