Bury MBC must pay out tens of thousands of pounds in bonuses to 1,200 low-paid female staff, after an employment tribunal ruled it had breached equal pay legislation. After a four-week hearing into the issue, a tribunal in Manchester rejected Bury's claim that male staff were paid more than female staff performing similar roles because of a genuine material factor, rather than because of their sex. Dave Prentis, general secretary of Unison, said: ‘We are delighted that the women have won pay justice at last. But it is disgraceful that the council chose to spend council taxpayers' money to the tune of over half a million pounds on legal fees which have been wasted at the courts.'
