About 800 council staff have won an equal pay battle worth up to £2,000 each after their union Unison took up their case.
Most of those covered by the deal, which was signed off in secret by senior councillors last month, are women working as carers.
The cost of the deal to Brighton and Hove City Council is about £1 million in one-off payments alone.
It includes backdated compensation covering the past six years as well as higher bank holiday payments from now on.
The deal stems from a row dating back to 2013 when a special bank holiday payment called the “resident’s services guarantee” (RSG) was negotiated to resolve a bin strike.
The payment was agreed for workers at Cityclean, the council’s refuse and recycling service, but Unison was not included in the talks so could not speak up for other workers at the time.
The union said: “Over subsequent years, the branch continued to regularly raise and publicise this equal pay issue as the majority of the workers benefiting from the payment in refuse and recycling are men.
“And the majority of those employees also working bank holidays but not receiving the RSG are low-paid women workers, particularly in care settings.
“From the start we have fought for bank holiday pay to be levelled up so that there is no inequity.”
Unison joint branch secretary Corinna Edwards-Colledge said that it was “a fantastic win for the branch”.
She said: “We are delighted that hundreds of key workers, including care workers, security staff, seafront officers and venue workers will now be being compensated for an historic inequality in how Brighton and Hove City Council pays its bank holiday workers.
“This is another example of the power of the collective voice that trade unions represent and our branch’s prioritisation of fairness and accountability.”
Brighton and Hove Unison lodged a dispute on the issue with Brighton and Hove City Council in 2021.
By last summer Unison had led on successful talks for a full and final offer from the council of 70 per cent of the difference between current bank holiday pay rates and the RSG backdated for six years.
The council also agreed to pay everyone the same bank holiday rate until a new fair system could be negotiated.
Unison said: “We are delighted that after continuing to fight for this payment through several delays outside of our control, the employer has recognised the need to get this offer out to affected workers – most of which work in care – and this means that all affected workers can now decide whether or not to accept it.
“The branch’s priority now is to work with the employer to ensure everyone has a chance to look at their offer as soon as possible and decide if they want to take it.
“We will also be working hard to ensure any future bank holiday payment rewards all our workers the same, whether they work in care, on our seafront, in security and events or in refuse and recycling.”
Hey! A big well done to Council staff.
You work so hard, always doing your best to help the residents and businesses in the city!
Unsuccessful troll is unsuccessful
Great news for these women.