HUNDREDS of women working across Birmingham City Council services are set to receive long-overdue payments following a historic pay claim by Unison and GMB. 

The council has signed an agreement with the two unions on behalf of women employed by the council and Birmingham Children’s Trust, the unions revealed yesterday.

Under the deal, women delivering essential services, such as teaching assistants, catering staff and care workers will be compensated for wages they missed out on after years of being underpaid.

Unison general secretary Christina McAnea said: “Fair pay for work of equal value is what every employee deserves, and what our union fights for every day. But far too many workers, particularly women, face persistent and unjust pay gaps.

“This victory for low-paid women will resonate far beyond Birmingham. It sends a powerful message that equality at work is not optional, it’s a fundamental right.”

Megan Fisher from GMB said: “This agreement has been hard won by the women workers of Birmingham.

“After years of being paid less than they were worth, they stood up and demanded what was theirs.

“Public bodies cannot run from the mistakes of the past; they must confront and fix them.”

The agreement comes after a deal was reached in principle last December.

Leader of the city council Cllr John Cotton said: "When I was appointed as Leader two years ago, I labelled equal pay the single biggest challenge that the council has faced and vowed to deal with the matter once and for all.

“We’re doing exactly that and this deal represents another key milestone on our journey.

“I want to thank GMB and Unison for working so constructively with the council to put right a historic wrong.”

The council said that the full terms of the settlement are confidential but confirmed that it would “avoid the time and expense of litigation, and without admission of liability by the council, and move forward with a fairer, more transparent job evaluation scheme and pay structure.”

In 2023, the council had said it had paid out a total of £1.1 billion to settle equal pay claims over the previous decade, but faced another £760 million in outstanding claims.