UNION HERO FOUGHT TO HER DEATH FOR ALL LOW PAID WOMEN AT COUNCIL

As Birmingham City Council's women workers finally start to receive payouts after years of discrimination, JANE HAYNES reveals how one woman who helped spearhead the union battle never lived to see their seismic victory...

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Unionists campaigning for equal pay gathered at the Council House in 2024 behind a banner bearing the image of Michelle McCrossen

THE banner bore a single word: Justice. Alongside it was the image of a smiling, defiant woman - Michelle McCrossen, a union activist who dedicated her life to standing up for women and demanding pay justice as an official for the GMB union.

Representing thousands of low paid women, she spent her last months pushing Birmingham City Council to strike a deal on equal pay. But tragically she died from cancer with victory still some way off.

When justice was served up “in principle", a year after her death, those she helped were determined to make sure her central role in their triumph was never forgotten.

A banner bearing her face took pride of place at an event on the steps of Birmingham Council House in November 2024.

It marked the moment when the council finally agreed to compensate thousands of its staff over discriminatory pay practices.

"We wouldn't be here without her. She's a legend," said one of the banner holders.

That same desire to commend Michelle's work was evident this week, after the agreement was finally translated into hard cash offers for each of the affected workers.

In the final months of her life in 2023, Michelle and I exchanged regular messages and calls about the battle.

However, what started as background chats between a journalist and a helpful union official morphed into something much more poignant and personal.

This week it is beginning the process of paying up for its latest batch of mistakes. Individual settlement offers are on their way to most of the 6,000 claimants represented by the GMB and Unison unions against the city council in a joint action.