Hundreds of NHS speech and language therapists will share £12m in back pay following the resolution of a 15-year 'equal pay' battle. The MSF union launched a claim in 1986 comparing the pay of 351 female speech and language therapists with professions dominated by men. The previous Conservative government fought the claim in the European courts, which ruled in favour of the women in 1994.MSF paid tribute to the present Labour government for helping to resolve the claim, saying it showed that ministers were committed to the principle of equal pay. It says top rates of pay for speech and language therapists could now rise to £60,000.