Striking Renfrewshire carers join rally demanding equal pay for women

Striking Renfrewshire carers gathered in Glasgow yesterday as trade unions demanded equal pay for a predominantly female work force.

Frontline staff employed by Renfrewshire Council and its associated health and social care partnership joined colleagues from Falkirk and West Dunbartonshire in staging a two-day walk out.

At a rally in George Square, GMB representatives insisted local authorities must not be allowed to use their dire financial situations as an excuse not to raise carers’ wages to match that of their male counterparts.

The union is in dispute with Renfrewshire Council over the grading of jobs and pay. It says the most recent review of the carers’ role fails to reflect their increased responsibilities.

Louise Gilmour, the union’s Scotland secretary, said: “To suggest women workers are somehow making things worse by asking for money they are owed and, in many cases, have been owed for years is as dishonest as it is disgraceful.

“To blame equal pay claims instead of the systemic pay discrimination that has prevailed is scapegoating workers only asking for what they are owed.

“It is an attempt to guilt women into believing they are being greedy and risking men’s jobs by simply asking for what they have been due for years.

“The cost of settling equal pay issues is looming over Scotland’s local councils but it’s not about women, it is about fairness and has been too long coming.”

Christine Kelly, who has been a carer for 15 years, says the pay offered by Renfrewshire Health and Social Care Partnership is “revolting”.

She stood on the picket line at the Mile End Centre in Paisley and joined the Glasgow rally demanding fair pay.

She told the Express: “We’ve not had a job review in 16 years and all we are asking is to be fairly paid for the job we do.

“This job is predominantly done by women, if it were a man’s job then this wouldn’t be an issue, they would get paid their value.”

Gilmour has written to the First Minister urging him to support the creation of a new specialist body to decide on pay discrimination claims because local authorities are refusing to facereality.

“Scotland’s councils are approaching equal pay claims like the Titanic approaching the iceberg,” she added.

“Councillors have their heads in the sand and executives have their fingers in their ears but these equal pay claims will be won and will need to be settled.

“The scale of these claims is unimaginable for local authorities already being forced to cut services.

“Unless that process is managed now, the impact on our councils and communities could be disastrous.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Councils are responsible for meeting legal obligations to employees on equal pay.

“In the face of a challenging financial situation, the Scottish Government is making available record funding of more than £14billion to councils in 2024-25 – a real-terms increase of 2.5 per cent compared with the previous year.”

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