Samira Ahmed has won an equal pay claim against the BBC. The Newswatch presenter argued that she should be paid the same salary as Points of View’s Jeremy Vine, and the failure to do so was a result of sex discrimination.
Samira currently receives £465 per episode while Jeremy is paid £3000 for his. “On the back of my BBC ID card are written the BBC values which include ‘we respect each other and celebrate our diversity’ and ‘we take pride in delivering quality and value for money’, she revealed in a statement last year. “I just ask why the BBC thinks I am worth only one-sixth of the value of the work of a man for doing a very similar job.”
Despite BBC’s claim that Samira and Jeremy were not doing similar work, a judge at the London Central Employment Tribunal has ruled that the network had “failed to rebut the presumption of sex discrimination that arose when she proved that her work was like his work”.
Speaking after the ruling , Ahmed said: “No woman wants to have to take action against their own employer,” adding “I’m now looking forward to continuing to do my job, to report on stories and not being one.”
BBC Radio 4 presenter Jane Garvey took to Twitter to celebrate the news. “Just brilliant @SamiraAhmedUK – it took real courage and she has it. #equalpay,” she wrote.
This marks another resounding win for women in broadcasting after decades of unequal pay. In 2018, news broadcasters and former China editor was awarded significant pay back and a public apology from the BBC after it was revealed she was paying being paid less than half of her male colleagues. That same year, Holly Willoughby was granted a £200,000 pay rise in order to match her co-star Phillip Schofield’s salary.
While there is still a long road ahead regarding equal pay, we salute Samira for leading the fight.