Glasgow Council leader denies equal pay talks have collapsed

Glasgow City Council Leader has denied accusations that equal pay negotiations have collapsed, saying they are still underway and on time.

In a tweet, Susan Aitken rebuked accusations from Labour that thousands of women had chosen to strike after negotiations with Glasgow City Council had failed.

Aitken said: “Equal pay negotiations have not ‘collapsed’; they are continuing” and that the timescale of when payments are to be made is well on track.

This was in response to a tweet by Labour’s communities and equalities spokeswoman, Monica Lennon.

Lennon said: "[These women] deserve pay justice and they deserve it now. It should never have reached this point and on behalf of Scottish Labour I apologise that the legacy of pay inequality wasn’t resolved when our party led Glasgow City Council.

"An apology, however, doesn’t pay the bills. The SNP came into power having promised to settle but women are still being failed.”

Aitken hit back at Labour, saying: “Gender pay injustice was not just ‘not resolved’ by Labour; it was perpetuated.”

Lennon’s post was in response to thousands of women voting to take strike action against Glasgow City Council. Up to 5,000 women may attend a mass walkout, including school support staff, cleaners and catering workers.

What are the equal pay claims about?

It dates back to 2006 when a Job Evaluation Scheme was introduced to end gender pay inequality.

However, the scheme was ruled to be discriminatory as there was a 3-year protection scheme for men to cushion the loss of bonuses.

How much may Glasgow City Council payout?

The lawyer acting for thousands of the women involved in equal pay claims has claimed the bill to settle the claims could reach up to £1B. Susan Aitken has denounced these comments saying they were “plucked out of thin air”.

Birmingham experienced a similar pay equal claim which resulted in a £1B payout.