The leader of Glasgow City Council has admitted the local authority faces “tough choices” over the future of its public services after agreeing a £500 million (US$654 million) equal pay settlement.
While the UK Council aims to pay the bill by borrowing money and mortgaging some of its buildings, leader Susan Aitken told the BBC that servicing the debts would cost it tens of millions of pounds each year.
She said Glasgow would "seek to avoid cuts to frontline services as much as we possibly can", but added that people were likely to see differences in the way some such services were delivered.
Thousands of Council workers walked out on strike last October as part of a long-running dispute, which centred on women being paid up to £3 (US$3.92) an hour less than male colleagues despite being on the same pay grade.
The issue dated back to 2006 when the previous Labour administration introduced a new job evaluation scheme that was supposed to address pay inequality, but which campaigners claim served to entrench discrimination instead. More than 12,000 claims were lodged as a result.
The women affected are now in line to receive an average of £35,000 (US$45,753) each to make up for previous shortfalls.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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The leader of Glasgow City Council has admitted the local authority faces “tough choices” over the future of its public services after agreeing a £500 million (US$654 million) equal pay settlement.
While the UK Council aims to pay the bill by borrowing money and mortgaging some of its buildings, leader Susan Aitken told the BBC that servicing the debts would cost it tens of millions of pounds each year.
She said Glasgow would "seek to avoid cuts to frontline services as much as we possibly can", but added that people were likely to see differences in the way some such services were delivered.
Thousands of Council workers walked out on strike last October as part of a long-running dispute, which centred on women being paid up to £3 (US$3.92) an hour less than male colleagues despite being on the same pay grade.
The issue dated back to 2006 when the previous Labour administration introduced a new job evaluation scheme that was supposed to address pay inequality, but which campaigners claim served to entrench discrimination instead. More than 12,000 claims were lodged as a result.
The women affected are now in line to receive an average of £35,000 (US$45,753) each to make up for previous shortfalls.
Emma Woollacott is a freelance business journalist. Her work has appeared in a wide range of publications, including the Guardian, the Times, Forbes and the BBC.
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