Fire and rehire threat returns at Glasgow City Council

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Plans to impose a new pay and grading structure aimed at resolving decades of gender discrimination by issuing redundancy notices to the council’s 23,000 non-teaching staff were put on pause last week after outcry from workers, unions, opposition politicians and an intervention from Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth.

Talks resumed, but while more cash is understood to have been put on the table to cut the numbers of workers facing pay cuts, it was not enough to secure a settlement.

In a statement issued late on Wednesday evening, council leader Cllr Ricky Bell said: “I’m deeply disappointed that, despite the council putting a further year of pay protection on the table, Unison has once again chosen not to put this offer to its members.

“Taken together with the improvements made since August, this represents a package well over a hundred million in extra pay for our staff.

“However, some of the remaining demands were simply unworkable. In particular, proposals for additional allowances would in fact have had a detrimental impact on some employees.”

Announcing fire and rehire was once again on the table, he continued: “We had paused the issue of letters to our staff to allow space for further discussion.

“Although Unison’s actions bring that pause to an end, we are working with Unite and GMB to ensure that their members are not dismissed and re-engaged.”

Speaking at the council’s city administration committee this morning, Cllr Bell confirmed that talks between the council, Unite and GMB were ongoing, while he had been party to discussions between Ms Gilruth and Unison.

Unison Scotland was contacted for comment.