Appeal over equal pay compensation claim

1:10am Saturday 19th July 2008

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A TRADE union is to appeal against a decision allowing a group of women council workers to claim compensation over the way it sought to get them equal pay.

Earlier this week, the Appeal Court ruled that the GMB Union had "manipulated" 26 of its members into accepting a controversial deal with Middlesbrough Council.

The women, whose compensation will be decided at a future hearing, claimed they were "sold down the river" by their trade union.

The GMB has expressed disappointment over the court's judgement that it had indirectly discriminated over its pay negotiations.

The agreement in 2005 has already been subject of decisions by an Employment Tribunal, an Employment Appeal Tribunal and judgement at the Court of Appeal.

The deal with Middlesbrough Council meant the manual workers involved only got about 25 per cent of the compensation they could have had for past inequalities in their pay, while disadvantaged workers employed at higher grades received nothing.

The GMB's national secretary, Brian Strutton, said the union would now seek leave of appeal in the House of Lords.

He said: "We have yet to see what loss, if any, these claimants may be entitled to and in any event we are seeking an appeal."

Mr Strutton added: "The Court of Appeal has found that the way the union went about getting the balance right between conflicting collective needs and individual rights was not correct.

"So we are seeking an appeal to the House of Lords to get absolute clarity on precisely what is the correct way to go about achieving this balance."

The Court of Appeal this week heard that up to 40 similar group actions have already been lodged against the nation's three biggest public service unions.