评论
打印
The two women debated whether to sign, wondering if they could get more money if they held out.
这两个女性朋友讨论是否要签字，想知道如果她们拒绝签字的话，是否能得到更多的补偿金。
When they reached the front of the queue, they spoke with council lawyers and union lawyers, who sat side by side and gave the same advice: sign the document and take the money.
她们走到队伍的最前面，与议会律师和工会律师交谈。律师们并排坐在一起，给出了同样的建议：在文件上签字后拿钱。
One of Stojilkovic’s colleagues signed, and got her 9,000 pounds shortly afterwards; the other didn’t and left the leisure centre empty-handed.
斯托吉尔科维奇的一位同事签了字，很快就拿到了9000英镑的补偿金；而另一位同事没有签字，空手离开了这个休闲中心。
Instead, she filed a claim with a private law firm called Fox Cross.
而她在一家名为“Fox Cros”的私人律师事务所的帮助下提交了一份领取单。
For Stojilkovic, it was a no-brainer.
对于斯托吉尔科维奇来说，这是不需要动脑筋的。
She signed, got her cash, and went back to day-to-day life.
她签了字，拿到了补偿金，又回归了日常生活。
The 2,800 pounds provided a cushion, but it was soon gone.
2800英镑提供了一个缓冲，但这笔钱很快就用完了。
The payments did not put an end to sex discrimination within the council.
这些补偿金并没有结束议会内部的性别歧视。
In fact, the gulf between women’s and men’s pay was getting bigger.
事实上，女性和男性之间的薪酬差距正在拉大。
In the years that followed the settlements, Fox Cross (which was later replaced by Action 4 Equality Scotland) sought out women in Glasgow to inform them that because of this ongoing discrimination, they could have a new claim.
在领取这次和解金之后的几年里，Fox Cross(后来被“Action 4 Equality Scotland”取代)在格拉斯哥市寻找妇女，告诉她们由于这种持续的男女歧视，她们可以提出新的索赔申请。
The lawyers leafleted, took out ads in papers and called public meetings.
律师们散发传单，在报纸上刊登广告，并召开公开会议。
In 2007, Stojilkovic attended one of these meetings and put in a claim with Action 4 Equality Scotland.
2007年，斯托吉尔科维奇参加了其中一次会议，并在“Action 4 Equality Scotland”的帮助下提出了索赔申请。
Thousands of carers and women in other female-dominated roles such as catering made the same decision.
成千上万的护理人员和从事其他女性主导的职业（如餐饮业）的女性也做出了同样的决定。
Care work – involving at-home, one-on-one visits – can be lonely.
护理工作--包括一对一的居家探视--可能会很孤独。
To offset this, Stojilkovic and a few of her colleagues met up regularly between shifts in the cafe in a Morrisons supermarket.
为了抵消孤独感，斯托吉尔科维奇和她的几名同事会在莫里森超市的咖啡馆轮班期间定期见面。
In 2008, at one of these gatherings, they heard the news.
2008年，在其中一次聚会上，她们听到了这个消息。
The woman who hadn’t signed the document at the leisure centre had won her employment tribunal.
那位没有在休闲中心签署文件的女性赢得了就业法庭的支持。
She had been awarded 27,000 pounds: three times the maximum the council had offered.
她获得了27,000英镑的奖励：是议会提供的最高金额的三倍。
Her story wasn’t unusual.
她的故事并不少见。
“In some cases, the settlements were worth 10% of what they were entitled to,” Stefan Cross KC, the founder of Action 4 Equality Scotland, told me recently.
“Action 4 Equality Scotland”的创始人斯特凡·克罗斯最近告诉我：“在某些情况下，和解补偿金只值她们应得的补偿金的10%。”
The fact that the women could have been short-changed by the 2005 payout, and that they could put in new claims because of ongoing discrimination, spread through word of mouth.
这些女性可能在2005年的赔偿中蒙受损失，但由于持续存在的歧视，她们可以提出新的索赔，这一事实通过口口相传传播开来。
These conversations signalled the start of a fight that would take almost 20 years, and end with the council paying more than 760m pounds to women who had been systematically underpaid.
这些对话标志着一场持续近20年的斗争的开始，最终以议会向被蓄意发过低报酬的女性支付逾7.6亿英镑补偿金结束。
What happened in Glasgow has changed the way unions and councils around the country treat low-paid female workers.
格拉斯哥市发生的事情改变了全英工会和议会对待低收入女性工人的方式。
In September 2023, Birmingham city council effectively filed for bankruptcy, in part due to its enormous liability on equal pay.
2023年9月，伯明翰市议会实际上申请了破产，部分原因是累积了同工同酬的巨额债务。
