Glasgow City Council plans to dismiss over 23,000 employees and subsequently rehire them under new contracts after negotiations with trade unions over a revised pay and grading system failed.
The local authority intends to send redundancy notices to its non-teaching staff next week, with the new contracts scheduled to take effect on January 1. The move follows the breakdown of talks on Wednesday between the council and the GMB, Unison, and Unite unions.
Unison stated it would not ballot its members on a proposed new pay offer, which was intended to replace a system found to be discriminatory against mostly female workers. However, the implementation of the new system would result in wage reductions for approximately 11% of employees.
The council indicated that dismissal notices would be rescinded if the three unions agreed to put the pay offer to their members. Colin Edgar, the council's director of communications and corporate governance, criticized Unison's decision, calling it a betrayal of its members and stating that the breakdown of talks left "no agreed way forward between the council and the joint trade unions."
Edgar asserted that the new pay and grading scheme would eliminate unequal pay and result in pay increases or no change for 90% of staff, with an overall increase in the council's total pay bill. He also noted that pay protection for staff facing wage reductions would be extended from six months to 12 months, with ongoing consultations to mitigate impacts.
Glasgow City Council has a history of pay-related issues. The authority previously paid out approximately £770 million to settle claims from female employees in roles such as catering and cleaning who had received significantly less pay than those in male-dominated sectors like refuse collection. The new evaluation scheme was designed to align pay scales with equality law, but it also led to potential wage cuts for some staff depending on their new pay bandings.
Leaders from GMB and Unite had warned that the fire and rehire policy might be enacted if the council did not table the offer for members to decide. They stated that if the council proceeded with this policy, the unions would immediately enter into a dispute to secure an improved package and halt the dismissals. The unions claim that an additional £110 million was negotiated into the funding package to address key issues for most members.