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United Kingdom UNISON
In the UK, the compulsory competitive tendering of public services in the 1980s and the contracting-out of services since the 1990s, has worked against many pay equity gains. A case is before the European Court of Justice involving school meal workers whose pay was reduced following two separate tendering exercises (Lawrence and others V Regent & Others). This case is significant because the women employed by private contractors are comparing themselves to men who are still directly employed in the local authority. Although UK law states that comparators must be in the same employment, this case tests the definition of “same employment”. UNISON believes that a positive outcome is crucial if the downward pressure on women’s pay, created by privatisation, is to be challenged.
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