Morrisons face women's pay equity

The supermarket giant Morrisons is facing lawsuits from women working in its stores and warehouses.

Women, current and former employees, say that they are not paid in the same way as male workers in comparable jobs.

Lawyers say that if the court challenge succeeds, thousands of women could receive an average return salary of £ 15,000.

But Morrisons said he thought the number of plaintiffs was much smaller and would dispute the case.

His rival Asda has experienced several setbacks in his ongoing legal dispute with his staff over equal pay.

Another big supermarket, Tesco, is facing a similar legal battle.

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The law firm Roscoe Reid, who represents many of the people affected in the Morrisons case, said the complaints applied not only to payment, but also to other conditions, such as the payment of premiums, holidays and sick leave.

Ellie Pinnells, a lawyer at Roscoe Reid, said: "It is clear that women's roles have been underpaid for a long time and that employees are very likely to win their equal pay cases.

"Asda has tried to fight all the points, but has experienced a series of defeats in court.Hope that Morrisons takes a different approach and tries to end an unjust pay that has lasted for about ten years in their workshops. "

Roscoe Reid said that thousands of Morrisons employees should file their claims in the courts in the coming weeks and months.

However, a spokeswoman for Morrisons said: "We are perplexed that this law firm is talking about" thousands "of plaintiffs, as they recently wrote us with a much smaller list of plaintiffs.

"We believe that we are paying our colleagues fairly and equitably for the work they do, regardless of gender, and we will defend that claim."