AROUND 5,000 Cumbria County Council care workers and kitchen staff are being offered £8.25 million to settle a long-standing sex discrimination claim.

A multi-million pound claim was lodged nearly two years ago by the GMB union against the council-run Cumbria Contract Services claiming staff in predominately female jobs did not benefit from the same bonus schemes as those in equivalent male-dominated council jobs.

If the mainly female workforce chooses to accept the authority's offer it would push pay rises of up to 24 per cent and lump sum compensation figures to an average of £1,200 each. Care staff would see their wages rise from £5.47 to £6.78 an hour.

GMB organiser Paul Savage said the offer had received "reasonably positive feedback" from members.

"This is acknowledgement of the disgraceful discrimination that the workers face and also recognition of the important professional jobs they do," he said. "It also gives a clear message that the GMB trade union will not allow women workers to be treated like second class citizens in Cumbria."

The pay offer, which was announced at a cabinet meeting in Carlisle on Tuesday, would see £6 million allocated to retrospective pay and £2.25 million to cover pay rises for this financial year.

The GMB and Unison have already lodged more than 1,500 claims and union bosses say that number is growing daily.