PAY WOMEN THE SAME AS MEN..? WHATEVER NEXT

After ruling goes against them, clothes giant faces possible £100m compo bill..& raise for 15,000 staff

- NICK SOMMERLAD

WOMEN shop workers have won the latest round in their fight for equal pay with male colleagues employed behind the scenes.

A tribunal agreed that the work of 2,000 female Next sales staff was of equal value to that of males in the firm's warehouses who earn between £2 and £14 an hour more.

If the women win the third and final stage of their five-year battle it could cost the store up to £100million to raise the pay of all 15,000 staff.

The ruling is also good news for tens of thousands of women with similar claims against the five major supermarkets - Asda, Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons and Co-op.

If they were to win, the stores could have to pay out billions, a source close to the litigation said.

Delighted former Next worker Alison Milton said: "We all knew the warehouse was on more and got a higher bonus. It was unfair but we thought we could do nothing."

Alison, 63, who worked for 23 years at a Bristol Next until retiring in 2021, added: "It's not just women sat behind the till looking pretty.

People don't realise it is hard work." The Next women's claim is being brought by legal firm Leigh Day.