Network Rail is facing the biggest equal pay claim in its history only a week after it was found to have missed punctuality targets and amid protests that bonuses for senior male staff have topped £1m. 

The claim against the rail operator involves 30 women, but could cover 3,000 if won, according to the Transport Salaried Staffs Association, which is launching the claim. 

It says the women are being paid between £3,000 and £4,000 a year less than their male colleagues for the same job. 

Network Rail was fined a record £53m last week for failing to meet punctuality targets, with many thousands of late trains running on its tracks.

The state-backed organisation, which owns and operates Britain’s railway infrastructure, was given a target of 92 per cent of trains running on time over the past five years. The Office of Rail Regulation found that from 2009 to this year, it managed only 86.9 per cent........

Questions 

1. Do you think that chief executives should still receive an enormous bonus even if the organisation that they have led has performed badly? List the arguments for and against. 

2. To what extent do you think that the bonus culture is increasing the gap between rich and poor? 

3. What legislation makes it unlawful for men and women who are doing the same job to be paid differently? 

4. This was the situation in July 2014. Try to find out what happened in this equal pay case.