Sunderland City Council leader responds to equal pay demands from female care workers

Sunderland City Council’s leader has responded to questions posed to him over a campaign from care workers to recover money they say is rightfully theirs.

Staff working for Sunderland Care and Support Ltd (SCAS), which is owned by the council, are to take legal action to recover £100,000s in wages and pension contributions they say they are owed.

The mainly female workers say they are paid less per hour than male-dominated jobs and have been denied access to a more generous local authority pension scheme, that is predominantly used by male council workers.

Following the breakdown of talks, the GMB union is now moving to take legal action over the issue.

Care workers affected protested outside Sunderland City Hall ahead of Wednesday’s (January 24) full council meeting.

Meanwhile, during the meeting, four questions over the issue and the city council’s handling of it were asked as part of the “public questions” section.

Councillor Graeme Miller, city council leader, said they are working to “conclude this as efficiently and as quickly as possible” and if they have “got anything wrong, it will be rectified”.

He said: “Councillors will be aware that members of the GMB union who are employees of Sunderland Care and Support, submitted an internal grievance in September against Sunderland Care and Support and Sunderland City Council.

“All parties including the GMB have agreed on a process to take this issue forward, that process is ongoing.

“Both Sunderland City Council and Sunderland Care and Support have committed to this process and are working together to conclude this as efficiently and as quickly as possible, whilst recognising the complexity of the matter.

“On that basis, it’s not appropriate for me to comment further when there is an ongoing sensitive conversation going on between the union, SCAS and the council.”

Cllr Miller added he himself is a member of the GMB and the council’s record “on looking after its staff is second to none.”

He continued: “People get paid a proper wage, we improve their terms and conditions, we have just agreed to give an extra day annual leave on the basis that we wanted to reward our key workers.

“This council and this Labour group brought that forward because we genuinely want our workers to have the best pay and conditions, but this situation has only just come up and we are still in those conversations to get that result.

“I can assure you that I want it resolved properly, and if we’ve got anything wrong, it will be rectified and that’s all I can say at the moment.”

Sunderland Care and Support Ltd was established by Sunderland City Council as a Local Authority Trading Company on 1st December 2013 and is the only shareholder of the company.