Knowsley Council Leader Cllr Graham Morgan has hit back directly at GMB Union following a protest at Council buildings today.
The union has expressed concern that “thousands of workers in roles traditionally held by women, may have been underpaid compared to work done by those in roles dominated by men”. But the Council has insisted that it continues to be actively working – with the full knowledge of GMB and other unions – to ensure equality and equity for all its staff.
Most recently the Council has been in ongoing discussions with GMB and other unions to understand the impact of the historic use of “Task and Finish”* working arrangements in Waste and Recycling services.
Cllr Morgan, Leader of Knowsley Council said: “We have been in dialogue with GMB and other unions for a very long time about the steps we can continually take to ensure equality and fairness for all our employees. That’s why I am so disappointed at the stance taken by GMB and their active inference that Knowsley Council isn’t a fair employer and is willingly acting against the interest of its female workforce. That is absolutely not the case and something they know all too well.
The reality is that we are really proud that 73% of our incredible workforce are women and women make up the majority of elected representatives on Cabinet and 50% of our Corporate Management Team.
Whilst this Council, and others know only too well, that inequality for women has been an issue historically, that is a thing of the past and is absolutely not the current reality for our female workforce – or indeed any elements of our workforce.”
Over the recent years the Council has taken proactive steps to ensure fairness and equality across the organisation, realising a range of positive benefits for staff. This includes:
- A decade long commitment to ensuring equal pay for all of its workforce including working with trade union colleagues in the 2010s to address historic inequalities and provide a fair platform that remains intact today.
- A robust Job Evaluation process, that involves the trade unions, that ensures fair and equitable pay is maintained when new jobs are created.
- Making the local decision to ensure that all of the workforce receive a “Real Living Wage.”
- Extending the “Real Living Wage” commitment to cover the social work workforce in local provider agencies too – the majority of whose workforce are women.
- Achieving a median gender pay gap** of 3.17% – a decrease from 6.97% reported in 2024 and well below the national average of 13.1%.
- The provision of flexible terms and conditions – many of which are designed to ensure the Council is an inclusive employer and that all staff can achieve a home / work life balance. This also ensures opportunities are not limited for people choosing to work part time.
- Made the decision to retain services in house such as facilities management and school meals – of which the majority of employees are women.
- Proactive monitoring and reporting of employment data far exceeding minimum standards of transparency.
Currently the Council is in liaison with the Joint Trade Unions regarding potential equal pay claims that could arise from the historical use of Task and Finish arrangements in the Council’s Waste and Recycling Services. Arrangements that were widely known about and ceased earlier this year following issues raised by GMB nationally. The Council is currently analysing years of data from an array of services to understand this complex set of circumstances.
Cllr Morgan concluded: “This Council fully supports the principles of equal pay and officers have been engaging positively with Trade Unions, including GMB, over this issue which is affecting councils across the country.”
Notes:
*Task and Finish in this context relates specifically to working arrangements that allow employees to leave work once assigned tasks are completed – regardless of the hours worked. It is a form of flexible working based on output rather than time.
**The median gender pay gap is the difference between the median hourly rate of pay of male full-pay relevant employees and that of female full-pay relevant employees. The average median hourly rate across the council is £17.40
The median hourly rate across the council for women is £17.40 and for men it is £17.97, meaning there is a median pay gap of 3.17%. This pay gap is driven by the volume of women who work part time within the workforce compared to men. This is due in part to the Council retaining services such as facilities management and school meals in house when many others have transferred them to the private sector.