Top female personalities at the BBC - including Irish journalist Orla Guerin - have written an open letter to its director general Tony Hall, calling on him to act immediately to tackle the gender pay divide.
It follows the publication of salaries, showing a huge difference between workers.
Radio 2 presenter Chris Evans topped the list on more than stg£2m (€2.2m) - while the highest earning woman was Strictly's Claudia Winkleman on between stg£450,000-£499,999 (€501,368-€557,091).
Mr Hall promised the situation would be resolved within three years.
Signatories include (clockwise, from top left): Emily Maitlis, Victoria Derbyshire, Sue Barker, Alex Jones, Fiona Bruce and Clare Balding | Image: BBC
The letter reads:
"Dear Tony,
The pay details released in the Annual report showed what many of us have suspected for many years...that women at the BBC are being paid less than men for the same work.
Compared to many women and men, we are very well compensated and fortunate. However, this is an age of equality and the BBC is an organisation that prides itself on its values.
You have said that you will "sort" the gender pay gap by 2020, but the BBC has known about the pay disparity for years. We all want to go on the record to call upon you to act now.
Beyond the list, there are so many other areas including production, engineering and support services and global, regional and local media where a pay gap has languished for too long.
This is an opportunity for those of us with strong and loud voices to use them on behalf of all, and for an organisation that had to be pushed into transparency to do the right thing.
We would be willing to meet you to discuss ways in which you can correct this disparity so that future generations of women do not face this kind of discrimination.
Yours sincerely,
Aasmah Mir
Katya Adler
Anita Anand
Wendy Austin
Samira Ahmed
Clare Balding
Emma Barnett
Zeinab Badawi
Sue Barker
Rachel Burden
Annabel Croft
Martine Croxall
Victoria Derbyshire
Lyse Doucet
Jane Garvey
Joanna Gosling
Fi Glover
Carrie Gracie
Orla Guerin
Karin Giannone
Mishal Husain
Lucy Hockings
Geeta Guru-murthy
Kirsty Lang
Gabby Logan
Martha kearney
Carolyn Quinn
Kasia Madera
Katty Kay
Emily Maitlis
Louise Minchin
Sarah Montague
Jenni Murray
Annita Mc Veigh
Elaine Paige
Sally Nugent
Angela Rippon
Ritula Shah
Sarah Smith
Kate Silverton
Charlotte Smith
Kirsty Wark
Fiona Bruce
Alex Jones".
In response, a BBC spokesperson says it has made "significant changes over the last three years but need to do more.
"Tony Hall has pledged the BBC will go further faster.
"Across the BBC, the average pay of men is 10% higher than women. The national average is 18%.
"We are committing to closing it by 2020".
