The Scottish Prison Service (SPS) is facing a fresh threat of strike action after some of the lowest paid staff missed out on an equal pay claim worth up to £4,000 each.

The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union won a £2m out-of-court settlement for more than 700 SPS workers who are paid between £18,871 and £36,176 a year for doing jobs in finance, administration, maintenance and human resources.

The non-operational staff will each get up to £4,000 in their August pay, dependent on length of service, but the Sunday Herald has learned that those earning less than £18,871 won’t get a penny.

The decision has prompted PCS to threaten to hold a consultative ballot for industrial action, the first step before an official strike ballot can be held.

PCS has been fighting for equal pay for non-operational staff since 2015, when prison officers began receiving bonuses. A £2,000 lump sum was handed to prison officers in 2015.

Justice secretary Michael Matheson told MSPs in March 2015 that the SPS had decided "the one-off payment for prison officers is made in recognition of a specific set of circumstances unique to their frontline role".

However, the SPS then agreed to pay its prison officers £1,000 in spring 2017 and the same amount this year.

The union began an equal pay claim because the majority of prison officers are men, while the majority of non-operational staff – who got no bonuses – are women.

In June it was announced that the SPS agreed an out-of-court settlement which will see non-operational workers earning more than £18,871 get a bumper pay packet this month.

PCS National Officer Lynn Henderson said: “This settlement demonstrates clearly the power of trade unions in fighting for equality in every workplace in Scotland. We’re glad that the Scottish Prison Service settled this dispute without the need for legal intervention and we hope other employers take heed.”

However, Henderson said there are “still workers in lower grades who haven’t yet seen justice done and we will continue to support their fight”.

Ian Scott, chairman of the union’s SPS executive committee, explained: “We couldn’t take it through as part of the equal pay claim because there is not a comparative salary for a prison officer.

“We are very disappointed that the lowest paid are not getting anything. It’s so unjust, so unfair. So, we are going back to our membership to ask them what they want to. We will pull together a campaign strategy. It might be we have another consultative ballot for action.”

A consultative ballot for industrial action carried out before the SPS settled out of court indicated 90 per cent support for walk outs.

In the SPS annual report, chief executive Colin McConnell said: “SPS was subject to Equal Pay litigation which was instigated by members of the PCS Union. On 28 March 2018, I announced my decision to settle the equal pay claims to enable SPS to focus all of its energy on moving the service forward in partnership.”

SPS figures show an increase in “special payments” of £2.1m when accounts for 2016/17 and 2017/18 are compared.

McConnell added: “Included in special payments is the settlement amount in respect of the equal pay claims raised by non-operational colleagues following the decision to make operational payments to prison officers and first line managers in recognition of their continuing engagement in a review of their roles.”

A spokeswoman for the SPS added: “In line with longstanding SPS trade union recognition and consultation agreements, SPS will continue to positively engage with unions and staff on all matters that directly affect them.”

UK HAS ONE OF THE HIGHEST GENDER PAY GAPS IN EUROPE

The UK has one of the highest gender pay gaps in Europe and more must be done to tackle it, MPs warned last week.

A Westminster committee inquiry found evidence of “obscene” wage differences of more than 40 per cent.

MPs on the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee said almost four out of five organisations had gender pay gaps in favour of men.

The committee took evidence from a number of companies and campaign groups during its inquiry, and discovered that median pay across the economy is 18 per cent in favour of men, but differences of more than 40 per cent are not uncommon, while almost one in eight employers have gaps of more than 30 per cent.

The recent move to require firms to publish gender pay details had “shone a spotlight” on the issue and helped women raise any disparities, said the committee.

It recommended increasing the number of organisations required to publish pay gap data to those with 50 employees, compared with the current 250.

The MPs also called for firms to publish annual progress reports, including action plans for tackling any wage gaps.

Rachel Reeves, who chairs the committee, said the biggest gender pay gaps were “obscene and entirely unacceptable”.