The Fight for Birmingham Pay Justice

24 October

24 October

Birmingham City Council loses an equal pay hearing at the Supreme Court, resulting in the council having to pay out over £1.1 billion to its workers.

But the council fails to learn the lessons and address the issues with their discriminatory pay and grading practices.

The timeline of events that follows is a direct consequence of that failure.

13 October

Birmingham City Council encourages unions to sign up to a Memorandum of Understanding, which would prevent thousands of employees from taking claims for equal pay.

Employees are encouraged by the council to sign settlement agreements, signing away their right to pursue equal pay, in exchange for what the council calls a "nuisance payment".

11 November

GMB launches Birmingham Pay Justice campaign, advising members not to sign settlement agreements and to reject the nuisance payment.

GMB Organiser Michelle McCrossen offers council workers the alternative of registering claims for equal pay, telling GMB members that they are "worth more".

22 February

GMB holds the first demonstration for Birmingham Pay Justice outside a full council meeting at Villa Park.

12 April

More than 1,000 GMB members sign a letter to candidates in the council elections, asking them to pledge to support the campaign for equal pay.

Some Labour candidates pledged their support for the campaign, but ending the discrimination in the city didn't make it into the Labour manifesto.

4 May

GMB warns Birmingham City Council against further delays to delivering equal pay, with workers preparing to take industrial action that could disrupt the coming Commonwealth Games.

30 June

GMB lights up Birmingham's Council House with the message that GMB members are "worth more".

14 July

Deborah Cadman appointed Chief Executive of Birmingham City Council.

In the announcement to the press, Deborah speaks of a “golden decade of opportunity” ahead for the city.

GMB writes to Deborah calling on her to make pay justice her top priority.

20 July

Birmingham City Council organise "signing sessions" where workers are encouraged to attend and sign settlement agreements.

This practise has been widely used by councils seeking to pressurise workers into settling their equal pay claims for less than they are worth.

GMB representatives attend to ensure workers are aware that GMB doesn't support the memorandum of understanding and that there is an alternative available.

Many of the workers present reject the settlement offers from the council and instead take equal pay claims with GMB.

27 July

GMB equal pay claimants hold a rally as the Commonwealth Torch arrives in Birmingham.

29 July

First day in the Employment Tribunal.

Birmingham City Council’s lawyers are instructed to defend the council’s discriminatory pay practices, delaying pay justice and adding to the council’s growing equal pay liabilities.

7 September

GMB holds a consultative ballot of Birmingham City Council workers, asking if they're prepared to take strike action for equal pay.

Of those who voted, 88% said they would strike for equal pay.

25 September

GMB takes the fight for pay justice to Labour Party Conference, using Birmingham as an example of how not to deal with equal pay issues.

26 September

Rhea Wolfson from GMB's Women's Campaign Unit speaks at Labour Party Conference to move GMB's motion on equal pay.

In her speech, she quotes a GMB member in Birmingham who says that equal pay would mean she could afford to have two hot meals a day.

9 January

GMB meets with Birmingham City Council officials as part of the council's dispute resolution process, but no progress is made on job evaluation or on settling equal pay claims.

Instead, the Council set out their plans to scrap the NJC scheme, the gold standard scheme for evaluating local government jobs.

Council officials indicate they will instead look to implement the Hay scheme which they say will be “quicker and cheaper”.

GMB says the scheme is not fit for purpose, and risks further expensive equal pay issues down the line.

3 February

More than 1,000 GMB members sign a letter to the council, urging them to stick with the NJC scheme.

Despite this, the council continues to delay on agreeing a process for job evaluation.

Meanwhile, the council's equal pay liability continues to grow.

28 June

Birmingham City Council Chief Executive Deborah Cadman writes to all staff at the Council, admitting that as of March 31^st 2023, the council’s equal pay liability stood at between £650m and £760m, growing by between £5m and £14m every month.

Based on those figures from the council, the 19 months of delay since the Birmingham Pay Justice campaign was launched had cost the council between £95m and £266m.

19 July

GMB launches our "Birmingham Equal Pay Clock", which shows the council's equal pay liability increasing in real time.

The calculations are based on the council's announcement on the 28th of June, and show the liability rising by £5.40 a second, or £14 million per month.

6 August

Birmingham City Council workers lobby councillors over job evaluation, as council officers continue to push for the NJC scheme to be scrapped in favour of the Hay scheme.

11 August

The fight for equal pay spreads across the country, with council workers in Westmorland, Cumberland, Coventry and Dundee taking their own claims for equal pay.

5 September

Birmingham City Council issues a Section 114 notice, stating that it does not have the resources to fund its equal pay liability.

GMB Organiser Michelle McCrossen calls it a “humiliating admission of failure” and pledges to “continue to fight for pay justice for our members, and to ensure those responsible for this crisis are held to account.”

7 September

The date is set for an equal pay hearing on the 25^th November 2024.

GMB calls for urgent settlement talks with the council to avoid another expensive 14 months of delay.

5 October

With the council facing a budget shortfall of £87m, the Government appoints Commissioners to oversee the running of Birmingham City Council.

9 October

With the equal pay liability continuing to rise, the commissioners finally look to get the council moving on job evaluation.

GMB sets out our 3 red lines for the job evaluation process - worker voice, transparency and equality-proof.

13 October

There’s a breakthrough on job evaluation as all unions agree to GMB proposals for a job evaluation process using the NJC job evaluation scheme.

The process is voted through by full council, ensuring that the NJC job evaluation scheme is used and GMB's 3 red lines for the process are met.

30 October

With Birmingham City Council now conceding that they have a significant equal pay liability, and with a job evaluation process due to begin, GMB writes again to the council urging them to enter settlement talks.

With every day of delay driving up the eventual cost of settlement, delivering compensation to the thousands of GMB members with equal pay claims must now be the council's top priority.