Although this Guardian article below does not refer to it this victory in the courts for equal pay was won by UNISON the Trade Union that represents public sector workers.  Another example of the grudging attitude of the media towards Trade Unions

It will be remembered that the National Union of Mineworkers won a similar equal pay claim for our canteen workers and we congratulate Unison on what can only be described as a magnificient victory.

Female Birmingham council workers win £200m equal pay case

Guardian.co.uk
28 April 2010

More than 4,000 female council workers have won the right to be paid the same as their male colleagues in a case which could lead to payouts worth about £200m.

An employment tribunal found in favour of female workers employed by Birmingham city council in 49 different jobs, including lollipop ladies and cleaners, who complained of being excluded from bonuses – worth up to 160% of their basic pay – paid to men.

The tribunal will now assess the level of awards to be made to the workers.

All the women were employed in traditionally female-dominated roles, such as cleaning, care and catering, as well as administrative jobs.

During the seven-week hearing, the tribunal heard how a man doing the same pay-graded job as a woman could earn four times more than her.

Under a bonus scheme, male refuse collection staff sometimes received up to 160% of their basic pay. In one year a refuse collector took home £51,000, while women on the same pay grade received less than £12,000.

Almost 900 of the women were represented by Stefan Cross solicitors, which has acted for more than 30,000 workers bringing similar cases over the past decade.

Paul Savage from the firm told the Birmingham Post: "This is a decisive and clear victory, and now the city council should start putting together plans to meet its liabilities. The women are owed a lot of money and it's time that was rectified."

He told the newspaper the bill for the council based on the 4,000 test cases was about £200m. However, he claimed that if a further 20,000 women from the 57,000-strong workforce also came forward and lodged claims, the figure could rise to £1bn.

Unions described the women's victory as a "major" case which could encourage other female public sector workers to bring similar claims.

Birmingham council last night said the claim related to an old pay grading and bonus structure that was no longer in place.