News from Slough

Slough played host to an enthusiastic meeting of Home Carers last week - which was arranged with the help of a few local people who had come across the Action 4 Equality blog site.

As usual, the carers had heard nothing about equal pay - from Slough Council or the local trade unions - empty promises about re-grading their jobs had come to nothing - and the pay gap between traditional male and female jobs had never been challenged.

Until Action 4 Equality arrived on the scene that is - now there is a flurry of activity as the employer and the unions desperately try to explain why they've sat on their backsides - and failed to implement their own equal pay (Single Status) agreement these past 10 years.

There is talk of the council now making a 'buy out' offer to some of the manual worker posts - but of course any such offers will be derisory - and will be for much less than the true value of people's claims.

The unions are suggesting the council may offer people 20% of what their claims are really worth - but why should low paid workers allow themselves to be cheated out of thousands of pounds?

The council won't explain how any 'buy out' offers are calculated - because to do that they would have to explain the size of the pay gap between male and female jobs - then people would be able to see just how badly they've been treated all these years.

The unions know the size of the pay gap - because they negotiated the bonus payments from the men - but kept the details hidden from their women members - all the while singing their own praises as champions of equal pay and equal opportunities.

Our advice to council workers in Slough is to get proper advice - find out what your claim is really worth - don't be taken in by a derisory 'buy out' offer - which doesn't even deliver equal pay.