EQUAL pay cases in Northern Ireland are taking up to 10 years to process because of inadequate and complicated procedures, delegates to the biennial conference of the Northern Ireland Committee of ICTU have been told.
The conference also heard that the privatisation of many services in the health and education sectors have discriminated significantly against women workers.
Ms Anne Hope of ICTU, who is a member of the Equal Opportunities Committee in Northern Ireland, said a formal investigation conducted by the EOC into compulsive competitive tendering (CCT) in the health and education service confirmed the fears expressed by unions that it impacted most adversely on women and those living in disadvantaged communities.
CCT was introduced to contract out services like cleaning, catering and laundry work. While permanent staff who transferred to outside contractors initially kept their public sector wages and conditions under the EU Transfer of Undertakings directive, these have since been seriously eroded, Ms Hope said.
The majority of transferred staff are women, many of whom are obliged to do part time work in two or three different locations in order to earn a living wage.
The EOC report also shows that CCT has cost the taxpayer more for the provision of contracted out services than if they had remained within the health and education services.
Delegates called on the government to suspend all CCT arrangements "forthwith" and write EU equality legislation into the tendering specifications.
On the issue of delays in equal pay, the conference called on the Northern Ireland Committee of Congress to press for legislative changes in reviewing cases as a matter of urgency. Ms Hope said equality cases can take up to 10 years. There have been cases where women had left the job, or even died, before a case was concluded.
She also criticised the practice of industrial tribunals (the UK equivalent of the Labour Court) in appointing independent experts to assess claims with no time limit on their work. They have on occasions taken one or two years to report back to the tribunals.