On the 6th June 2006 the Tribunal's decision in the Allen v GMB case was given. The decision runs to 139 pages and is a damming endictment of the conduct of the GMB.

Lets begin at the end.

The final paragraph of the decision summarises the Tribunals view of the conduct of the GMB over the previous 10 years ;

"The Union acting in Middlesborough believed that the enforcement of the Equal Pay Act whether by litigation or not would bring about what they saw as a doomsday scenario of cuts in jobs and services, privatisations, members being set against one another and industrial relations as they knew it collapsing........Equal Pay is the employer's responsibility. They should have eradicated what they knew to be unequal pay years earlier. But they had not. The Union then collaborated with them in such a way that it applied practices which manipulated the members who had back pay claims into unwittingly sacrificing their rights to the benefit of other members and the Council."

So the decision of the Tribunal in one line is : The Union then collaborated with them [The Employer] in such a way that it applied practices which manipulated the members who had back pay claims into unwittingly sacrificing their rights.

Collaboration and manipulation feature throughout the facts of the Allen case.

So what was the case all about ?

Allan v GMB was  a sex discrimination case brought by an employee of Middlesbrough council. The tribunal held that the GMB did indirectly discriminate against its female members by seeking to protect the pay of male employees at the expense of back pay due to female staff.

The Tribunal took the view that the GMB had promoted pay deals to members which they and the Council knew were less than they would have recieved if they had pursued action for Equal Pay and back pay. In addition they persistently sought to dissuade their members from taking legal advice.

Taking sides

Once upon a time the fact that the lowest paid workers in the country are owed a £5bn compensatory payment, would be heralded as a victory which vindicated the whole purpose of the Trade Union movement. But not any longer.

The Governement, Councils, Local Authorities and Unions have espoused for decades the importance of Equal Pay but have consistently failed to implement their own policies or take action to force the Councils to do so.

In the meantime the GMB and other Unions have,  embarked upon a co-ordinated attempt to reduce the amount which could be paid to members. Everything is being considered, no stone left unturned, even a suggestion that the Unions should petition a Labour Government to change the law to prevent people pursuing claims.

It would appear the only possibility they have not considered is paying the workers the money due to them.

How can this be ?

The Councils and the Unions say that the cost of paying back pay claims and increasing the salaries of female members of staff will be too much. They say it will result in redundancies and will cripple services to the community. This may well be right if the Government will not step in and assist the Councils. The Equal Pay Act 1970 was a Labour Government initiative and the right to Equal Pay has been a Labour Party manifesto commitment every year since.

Where will the credibility of Unions be in future if they will not protect the interest of the lowest paid ? The GMB themselves have previously advised negotiators to maintain the stance that "cost is not a Defence"

The Allen case hints at another more sinister reason why the Unions are fighting against the right of their members to be properly paid. That is the inevitable in-fighting which would occur. The suggestion is that by allowing members to insist on a right to individual pay negotiations, the whole purpose of the Union movement will be undermined. Worse still for the Unions, most councils will rationalise their workforce and effectively privatise the public sector. Unions will disappear, as will the funders of the Labour party.

Perhaps the Trade Union movement is not fighting for Equal Pay because it is too busy fighting for survival.

It is estimated by the Local Government Employers Association that up to £5bn is owed to female members of staff simply to put them in the position they would have been had Councils and Local Authorities properly complied with the Equal Pay Act.

The Unions have been 'negotiating' for their members on this issue for over a decade.