Haringey Council

Haringey is following a well-trodden path - according to a meeting with clerical workers in London last week.

The council has made one-off 'buy out' offers to some manual workers - but excluded large groups of staff (such as clerical workers) with perfectly valid equal pay claims.

The 'buy outs' follow the usual pattern adopted by employers in other parts of the country:

1. They are for much less than the true value of people's claims
2. They don't deliver equal pay - no one's rate of pay has gone up
3. The big pay differences between male and female jobs remains
4. The groups that have been left out can still bring an equal pay claim
5. Any manual worker who accepted a 'buy out' has a second claim - because the higher pay of the men is being protected for years into the future

So, our advice is not to be taken in by any claims that Haringey Council has solved its equal pay problems - the council still hasn't delivered the modern non-discriminatory job evaluation scheme - that it promised to introduce 10 years ago!

Male and female jobs are still be treated very differently - and there are no prizes for guessing which group is still losing out.

If you need advice about how your own situation, contact Action 4 Equality London on 0845 300 3 800 or drop me a note at: markirvine@compuserve.com