ABSTRACT
The Single Status Agreement (SSA) was a ground-breaking national agreement signed in 1997 for England and Wales, having taken two years to negotiate. It was preceded in 1994 by an agreement between the three main unions (Unison, GMB and then the Transport and General Workers Union) to multi-union/single table bargaining. There were different views between the employer and trade union representatives on whether the SSA had resulted in equal pay in local government. The employers’ representative felt that, following the SSA, the gender pay gap in local government stood at around 5%, much lower than the UK or European average. The culture of the financial services sector (FSS) is an important explanatory factor of gender segregation and the pay gap of the sector. It has been widely recognised in the press and the academic literature that the culture in the FSS leads to women being treated, not only less favourably, but also with little respect.
