Network Rail bosses were accused today of treating women like “second class citizens” after research revealed that they were being paid on average £4,500 per year less than their male colleagues.
The findings of the survey of more than 2,000 workers will result in some 34 female middle managers launching an initial claim for back-pay of £25,000 each later this month at a central London employment tribunal, backed by the Transport Salaried Staffs’ Association.
Manuel Cortes, the union’s general secretary, which represents white collar and managerial staff, said that the women involved were only “the tip of the iceberg”.
“This [pay gap] is completely unacceptable in a firm which receives the majority of its funding – £4 billion a year – from the taxpayer. We are determined to end women being treated as second class citizens in the rail industry when it comes to pay,” he added.
In some instances, the wage gap between the genders was up to £10,000 per annum. Union officials believe that up to 1,000 more female staff are being discriminated against by Network Rail and the higher up the pay scale they are, the bigger the wage differential.
But Tom Condon, a TSSA spokesman, was somewhat more conciliatory than Cortes. He told the Financial Times that the union was open to talks with the firm rather than pursuing a legal settlement. “They [the 34 women] are a pathfinding claim,” he said.
Network Rail, on the other hand, said that it was “committed to fair pay practices and has agreed to work with the TSSA to review our systems”.
The FT claimed that relations between managers and the union had improved since the departure of Peter Bennett, the firm’s former HR director who was accused of bulling behaviour as well as making racist and sexist remarks.
Under David Higgins, who joined as chief executive last year, Network Rail is undertaking an internal review in order to address “diversity and inclusion”.
The union is also studying pay rates across the rest of the rail industry, which includes privately-owned train and freight operators and means that more claims may be forthcoming. It believes that female workers could have been shortchanged out of a total of more than £25 million to date.
One Response
Plugging the gap
It’s a shame that these ‘pay fighting’ issues always seem to rise. I wonder when will be the day when employees are paid on the basis of the quality of the job they do and not on any other factor such as their sex. Pay gaps of £4,500 are sadly not un-heard of and the sooner these issues are dealt with the better so long let them fight for what they’re entitled too.
Dave Evans
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