Good to see this little victory for GMB members – they’ve waited long enough for the case to come all the way up to the House of Lords, and well done to them for staying the course.

A group of 36 dinner ladies employed by St Helens Borough Council took out an equal pay claim back in 1998, originally as part of a wider group who settled separately. As a result, they were all sent letters by their employer, warning them that the cost of equal pay for them could result in the kids going without food. A disgraceful blackmail attempt that I’m glad to hear they never gave in to.

Worse still, similar letters warning of cuts for children or redundancies if the claim went ahead were sent to the women’s colleagues – seeking to isolate them from the rest of the workforce.

No-one ever hopes to take a grievance, go to court, or go on strike and thereby risk damaging the business, and hence risk their jobs or undo the hard work they’ve put in (regardless of the lost wages and soured relations) – it’s a last resort when faced with a persistently unreasonable employer. It’s often doubly hard for staff in the public sector though, as they also have a strong emotional connection to the people who clearly need the service they supply.

By playing on their dedication to the children in their care, the employers in this case hoped to swindle the dinner ladies out of what was rightfully theirs – a terrible dilemna for them. Hopefully this small case will have a big effect in curbing any future cases like this. Dedicated staff will already be wracking their consciences over taking action, without such irresponsible blackmail from employers.