More than £1bn won for women in equal pay cases – GMB

Women workers have won more than £1 billion this year following equal pay campaigns by a leading trade union.

The GMB said hundreds of thousands of women working in councils across the UK in jobs such as care, cleaning and catering are graded lower or have worse terms and conditions than male-dominated roles such as refuse collection – even when they are of equal value.

Thousands of those who were underpaid for years compared with male colleagues have now received just over £1 billion in money they were owed, said the union.

Around 40,000 claims remain outstanding across 28 local authorities, which the GMB said were likely to run into hundreds of millions of pounds.

A further 10,000 claims are set to be launched this year.

Rhea Wolfson, the GMB’s head of industrial relations, said: “Fifty years on from the Equal Pay Act, it should be a source of national shame we have to make these claims.

“But it’s amazing to know more than £1 billion will now be paid to the women who are owed it.

“Employers need to take note in 2026 – wherever GMB sees women being underpaid compared to men, in the public or private sector, we are coming for you.”