Men and Equal Pay
A regular reader - a male reader - has been in touch with a timely reminder that equal pay is about men as well as women. Here's what he had to say:
Dear Readers,
While the support for low paid female workers is fantastic I would like to point out that although not alone I worked for years alongside female careworkers doing the same job for the same rate of pay.
I was told I would not be getting compensated (like my female colleagues were for being underpaid) simply because I was male no other reason was given, and I got that from my direct line management.
My direct co-workers were paid out not once but twice amounting to thousands of pounds each payment.
So I would like to take the opportunity to set the record straight that the issue is about low paid workers and not just low paid female workers.
I am in the position where I am worse off than my female care workers, and even in the courts we male employees have to wait for the female cases to be heard before we can have our say in court.
So forgive me if I don’t have the same sympathy when I hear responses based solely on female low paid workers, because I have been stamped all over by my ex-employers the unions and the courts simply for being a man.
Six years later I am still waiting on the wages that the council owes me while female workers enjoyed two payments and having their say in court before me so it seems male carers are neither male nor female in the councils’, unions' or courts’ eyes.
So maybe that was their loophole not to pay male carers was that we are not deemed human so they don’t have to pay us like they did with the females.
AA
As far as Action 4 Equality Scotland is concerned - the position has always been the same - that male workers have exactly the same right to equal pay - as their female colleagues.
The unions and the employers have told people otherwise - but that is simply wrong.
I know lots of male workers who were told by their trade unions to 'get lost' - that they were wasting their time pursuing a claim for equal pay.
Thankfully not everyone listened to - or put up with - this terrible 'advice'.
The way the equal pay legislation is framed does mean that female workers have to win their cases first - which is a real pain - but there's no way round that problem without chaging the law.
The employers make matters worse of course - by dragging their feet and slowing things down - though that will not save them in the end.
So while it's frustrating all round - the male claimants have not been forgotten - by Action 4 Equality Scotland at least.
Dear Readers,
While the support for low paid female workers is fantastic I would like to point out that although not alone I worked for years alongside female careworkers doing the same job for the same rate of pay.
I was told I would not be getting compensated (like my female colleagues were for being underpaid) simply because I was male no other reason was given, and I got that from my direct line management.
My direct co-workers were paid out not once but twice amounting to thousands of pounds each payment.
So I would like to take the opportunity to set the record straight that the issue is about low paid workers and not just low paid female workers.
I am in the position where I am worse off than my female care workers, and even in the courts we male employees have to wait for the female cases to be heard before we can have our say in court.
So forgive me if I don’t have the same sympathy when I hear responses based solely on female low paid workers, because I have been stamped all over by my ex-employers the unions and the courts simply for being a man.
Six years later I am still waiting on the wages that the council owes me while female workers enjoyed two payments and having their say in court before me so it seems male carers are neither male nor female in the councils’, unions' or courts’ eyes.
So maybe that was their loophole not to pay male carers was that we are not deemed human so they don’t have to pay us like they did with the females.
AA
As far as Action 4 Equality Scotland is concerned - the position has always been the same - that male workers have exactly the same right to equal pay - as their female colleagues.
The unions and the employers have told people otherwise - but that is simply wrong.
I know lots of male workers who were told by their trade unions to 'get lost' - that they were wasting their time pursuing a claim for equal pay.
Thankfully not everyone listened to - or put up with - this terrible 'advice'.
The way the equal pay legislation is framed does mean that female workers have to win their cases first - which is a real pain - but there's no way round that problem without chaging the law.
The employers make matters worse of course - by dragging their feet and slowing things down - though that will not save them in the end.
So while it's frustrating all round - the male claimants have not been forgotten - by Action 4 Equality Scotland at least.
