The care workers' equal pay dispute in Sheffield looks to be over with the city council agreeing to recompense about 1,100 staff, a group that also includes cleaners and dinner ladies.
Sheffield, armed with a team of lawyers, was threatening to take the case to the Supreme Court after the Court of Appeal ruled in favour of the employees but has now backed down, perhaps in the interests of the public purse as much as any moral propriety.
However, we may not have heard the last of this.
Although the Local Government Group does not expect a wave of similar settlements to follow - "we do not believe it will have a far-reaching effect", said a spokesperson - Unison, which represented the staff, may have other ideas.
General secretary Dave Prentis told The Guardian: "This decision has implications for around 400,000 other women's cases across the country."
Whether other local authorities will dig in where Sheffield left off we will have to wait and see.
Picture: Rex Features
