Group of men win £30,000 each after landmark court case finds THEY were discriminated against by university employers because female colleagues were paid more

26 workers in Swansea could receive around £750,000 in back pay

It is thought to be first sex discrimination case by a large group of men



They were at Swansea Metropolitan University, now University of Wales



Hourly rate was less than for women employed on the same pay scale

University bosses have now withdrawn case and are discussing a payout



Robert Cooze, 50, said: 'We're glad common sense has prevailed'



A group of male carpenters, plumbers and cleaners have won a landmark equal pay case after complaining they were paid less than female secretaries.



The 18 workmen sued saying they were given around £4,000 less a year than women on the same pay scale when their employer merged with another university last year.



Now in what is thought to be the first decision involving such a large group of men, bosses have agreed - and the workers along with eight others are in line for £30,000 each in back pay.

Landmark case: Workmen Nicholas Thomas, Rob Cooze and Mike Betson are among 26 due £30,000 each from the University of Wales Trinity St David after saying they were paid less than female colleagues

The University of Wales, Trinity St David - which merged with the men's former employer Swansea Metropolitan University - had insisted the difference was not due to gender.

But in a surprise U-turn, the university said today it would no longer contest the case.

A spokesman said chiefs had re-thought their position after a former Swansea vice chancellor, Professor David Warner, gave evidence to their employment tribunal.

'We came to the view the original claim presented by staff to the former Swansea Metropolitan University had due merit and, as a result, an appropriate remedy should be agreed and actioned,' the spokesman added.

But the spokesman insisted the situation was not the university's fault and was down to 'historical decisions' by Swansea before the Metropolitan University ceased to exist.

Changing hands: The men were all employed at Swansea Metropolitan University (pictured) which has since become a campus of University of Wales Trinity St David. The university blamed 'historical decisions'

It is believed to be the first time that such a large group of men have launched legal action in Britain claiming sexual discrimination.

Although tribunals brought by men are not unheard of, the case involving the Welsh university workers has been described as 'very unusual'.

All the men were originally employed by Swansea Metropolitan University which merged with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David in August last year.

They were on grade three of the university's pay scale and the dispute arose when their contracts changed.

Previously, the men had been on a minimum 45 hour week until new regulations sought to standardise all workers to a 37 hour week instead.

Fearing the drop in hours would cause problems, university bosses said they would guarantee the men the extra eight hours but class it as overtime pay.

Victory: Tradesman Rob Cooze, 50, plumber Mike Betson, 65, and carpenter Nicholas Thomas, 47, address the media outside the employment tribunal in Cardiff where the group may have won £750,000

Yet when the new system was put in place, the men said they realised their hourly rate was less than women including secretaries and office employees who were on the same pay grade.

Both parties are yet to agree a payout but it is thought it will amount to £30,000 in back pay for each of the 18 workers, along with eight more who said they would lodge the same claim.

HISTORY OF EQUAL PAY LAWS

Women may have first earned the vote in 1918, but it would take more than 50 years before they were given the right to demand the same wages as men. The Equal Pay Act was only passed in 1970 and did not become law until 1976, finally giving women the right to the same salaries and terms as men doing the same job. Yet many employers, who had lobbied against the Act saying it would bankrupt them, simply re-graded women's jobs so that on paper they were technically serving a different role to men. The Equality Act 2010 tightened up many of the laws enacted in 1970 and people can sue if they are doing broadly the same job, even if it is not given the same title. Yet many women still feel they have a raw deal.

The pay gap widened for the first time in five years in December with women earning an average of £5,000 a year less - often because men still take many of the top jobs.



The workers' lawyers will also apply for costs, though the men are not seeking money for 'injury to feelings'.

Speaking outside the employment tribunal in Cardiff, Robert Cooze, 50, from Swansea, said he and his colleagues were over the moon.

'We didn't want it to come to this really but we're glad common sense has prevailed,' said Mr Cooze. 'It's been admitted that we have been discriminated against.

'With all due respect to our new employers, Trinity St David, this is completely new to them and is a historical issue.

'I would like to think that they have had some input into this. We are just so relieved and can get on with our ordinary working days now.

'At certain times it did get us down because in the past ... we felt like we weren't being listened to. I just hope it hasn't soured any relations between us and our new employers.'

The Trinity St David spokesman added: 'The employment tribunal related to events that occurred more than seven years ago at the now dissolved higher education corporation Swansea Metropolitan University, and several years before its merger with the University of Wales Trinity Saint David which took place in 2013.

'The University of Wales Trinity Saint David had no involvement in the decisions that were made by Swansea Metropolitan University in 2007.

'This was a complex case and we are very disappointed the new university now has to deal with, in an appropriate manner and with due care, the consequences of historical decisions.'

Rob Cooze said: 'We are just so relieved and can get on with our ordinary working days now'



