Last week the BBC published its annual report on its spending and program offerings, which revealed the disappointing, but sadly unsurprising fact that the corporation’s biggest female stars are being paid a fraction of their male counterparts’ salaries. The UK’s public-service broadcaster has been in hot water ever since, and yesterday some of those female stars banded together to call upon the BBC to close its gender pay gap.

Prominent BBC personalities such as “Newsnight” presenter Emily Maitlis and sports presenter Clare Balding, who are some of the most familiar faces on British television, have put their name to an open letter to the corporation’s director general, Tony Hall. “BBC World News America” anchor Katty Kay is also among the signees. Altogether some 40 women from across the corporation have called upon the director general to act immediately to “correct” the disparity in pay in order to ensure “that future generations of women do not face this kind of discrimination.”

This year’s annual report marks the first time that the BBC has made the salaries of stars earning over £150,000 (approximately $195,500 in USD) public. However, as Alex Jones, presenter of BBC’s “The One Show,” commented, “the BBC has known about the pay disparity for years.” Jones — who, the annual report revealed, is paid less than her male co-presenter Matt Baker — went on to say that the corporation “had to be pushed into transparency to do the right thing.”

The women of the BBC join the likes of stars of American film and television such as Robin Wright and Jessica Chastain who have been vocal about demanding equal pay for their work across the pond. The BBC’s director general was quick to respond to their letter, saying that “work is already well under way” to close the gender pay gap. With more women speaking out on this issue, we can only hope that more corporations get the memo about pay transparency, and take steps to do the same.