{"id":229829,"date":"2025-07-01T17:15:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/229829\/"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:15:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:15:12","slug":"birmingham-could-face-equal-pay-strikes-as-union-says-school-workers-being-short-changed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/229829\/","title":{"rendered":"Birmingham &#8216;could face equal pay strikes&#8217; as union says school workers being &#8216;short-changed&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Birmingham Council effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2023 &#8211; and the equal pay issue was one of many factors which contributed<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/0_JS333198789.jpg\" alt=\"A protest over equal pay outside Birmingham Council House in 2024\" loading=\"eager\"  \/>A protest over equal pay outside Birmingham Council House in 2024(Image: Nick Wilkinson\/Birmingham Live)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A union has warned Birmingham could face more equal pay strikes in the future amid claims that school workers have been \u201cshort-changed&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The equal pay issue was one of the many factors which contributed to <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/all-about\/birmingham-city-council\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham City Council<\/a> effectively declaring itself bankrupt in September 2023 &#8211; an alarming moment which was followed by unprecedented service cuts.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Unions have claimed that thousands of women have been \u201cpaid less than they are worth\u201d and have been fighting for progress on equal pay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">READ MORE: <\/strong><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/birmingham-bin-collection-figures-completely-31934610\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Birmingham bin collection figures \u2018completely collapsed\u2019 in weeks before major incident<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">There appeared to be a breakthrough on the issue late last year however when the Labour-run council, UNISON and GMB announced they had reached a \u2018framework agreement\u2019 to settle claims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">But GMB has said that it will today, July 1, begin a consultative vote on strike action &#8211; a move which will gauge members&#8217; interest.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Around 3,000 workers across <a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/\" target=\"\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\">Birmingham<\/a> schools are expected to take part in this initial ballot.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The union argued that progress on resolving the equal pay issue is \u201ctoo slow\u201d and demanded settlement of the claims.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Rachel Fagan, GMB regional organiser, said: \u201cIt\u2019s been nearly two years since the council finally admitted they had an equal pay crisis on their hands.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/3_Birmingham-City-Council.jpg\" alt=\"Birmingham City Council House.\" loading=\"lazy\"  \/>Birmingham City Council House.(Image: Copyright Unknown)<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cSince then we\u2019ve seen missed opportunity after missed opportunity to do right by women workers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">\u201cMeanwhile thousands of women are still being short changed and paid less than they are worth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">She continued: &#8220;GMB members have been promised settlement by the Autumn, but progress is too slow.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;They are voting to send a message that enough is enough; they are worth more and demand settlement of Birmingham\u2019s equal pay claims.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">&#8216;Council continues to work at pace&#8217;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">A spokesperson for the council said the local authority recognises it has, over many years, failed to address all of its equal pay risks.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;We have committed to ending that,&#8221; they continued. \u201cProgress towards settling equal pay claims following the agreement reached in November 2024 is in line with plans agreed in partnership with GMB.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;The council continues to work at pace and progressively with GMB to begin settling claims by the end of this year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;The council will work with GMB to understand the root of the issues now presented in a consultative ballot.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">They went on to stress that &#8220;this is not a ballot for industrial action&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">READ MORE: <\/strong><a class=\"TextLink_text-link__dBSS0 TextLink_enabled__dJF3l\" href=\"https:\/\/www.birminghammail.co.uk\/news\/midlands-news\/birmingham-council-not-suffering-optimism-31946563\" target=\"_self\" aria-label=\"\" tabindex=\"0\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong class=\"Strong_strong__e2x35\">Birmingham Council &#8216;not suffering from optimism bias&#8217; amid major transformation project<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;We sincerely hope that this will not delay our ability to keep to the timelines agreed with GMB and get payments into the hands of the eligible workers,&#8221; the council spokesperson added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">&#8220;We are committed to ensuring that all staff are treated fairly and paid equitably.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Industrial action has already taken its toll on Birmingham this year due to the ongoing bin strike.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">The dispute, between Unite the union and the council, was triggered by the loss of the Waste Recycling and Collection Officer role and remains unresolved.<\/p>\n<p class=\"Paragraph_paragraph-text__PVKlh \">Striking workers have raised concerns about pay while the council\u2019s leadership has repeatedly insisted that a &#8220;fair and reasonable&#8221; offer has been made.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Birmingham Council effectively declared itself bankrupt in 2023 &#8211; and the equal pay issue was one of many&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":229830,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7820],"tags":[855,984,748,393,4884,528,285,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-229829","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-birmingham","8":"tag-birmingham","9":"tag-birmingham-city-council","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-labour-party","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114779109792074073","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=229829"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/229829\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/229830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=229829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=229829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=229829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}