Glasgow council plans to dismiss and rehire more than 23,000 staff

Glasgow City Council plans to dismiss more than 23,000 non-teaching employees and offer them new contracts after negotiations with unions over a pay overhaul broke down, the BBC reports. The restructuring is intended to replace a system found to discriminate against predominantly female workers. [1]

The proposed dismissal and re-engagement process, commonly known as ‘fire and rehire’, would cover every non-teaching employee, including nursery staff, refuse collectors and chief executive Susanne Millar. Replacement contracts are intended to begin on 1 January. Teaching staff are outside the stated scope. [1]

The council approved changes to its pay and grading structure the previous month, following eight years of negotiations, according to the BBC.

Pay gains, cuts and temporary protection

The BBC reports that 63% of those affected would gain financially under the proposed system, while 11% would have their wages reduced. These are projected changes, not pay outcomes already recorded. [1]

Joanne, a support-for-learning worker, told BBC Radio Scotland Breakfast that she felt let down after 25 years of service to the council. The BBC reported that she faced losing about £300 a year. [1]

The council says the scheme would remove unequal pay and substantially increase its total wage bill. Its director of communications and corporate governance, Colin Edgar, said 90% of staff would receive a rise or see their pay stay the same. The report does not reconcile that figure with the separate estimate that 11% would face cuts. [1]

Edgar also said unions had negotiated an extension of pay protection for employees facing losses from six months to 12 months. That protection is temporary, rather than a commitment to preserve their existing pay indefinitely. [1]

Unions differ over a ballot

Talks involving the council, GMB, Unison and Unite broke down on Wednesday when Unison declined to ballot its members on the proposed offer, the BBC reports. GMB and Unite supported putting the pay structure to a membership vote. [1]

Their support for a ballot did not amount to backing fire and rehire: both unions criticised the council's decision to pursue dismissal and re-engagement, with Unite describing it as a ‘scandalous threat’. [1]