Key facts
- Glasgow City Council will dismiss over 23,000 non-teaching staff.
- New contracts will take effect from January 1.
- The move aims to implement a new pay and grading system to replace a discriminatory scheme.
- 90% of staff will see their pay rise or stay the same under the new scheme.
- 11% of employees will see their wages cut, with the highest drop around £11,500.
- Unions have called the move a 'scandalous threat' and demanded it be withdrawn.
Glasgow City Council is preparing to dismiss and rehire more than 23,000 non-teaching staff as pay talks with unions have broken down. The local authority stated that dismissal notices will be sent out next week, with new contracts taking effect from January 1.
The negotiations concerned plans to implement a new pay and grading system, designed to replace a 2006 scheme found to discriminate against mostly women workers. While the council claims 90% of staff will see their pay rise or remain the same, 11% of employees are expected to face wage cuts, with the highest reduction estimated at £11,500.
Talks between the council and the GMB, Unison, and Unite unions collapsed on Wednesday after Unison announced it would not ballot its members on a proposed new pay offer. The council's director of communications and corporate governance, Colin Edgar, criticized Unison's decision, stating it betrayed its members and left no agreed way forward. He added that the rejected offer would have removed the threat of dismissals and provided additional cash for back pay.
Unions have strongly opposed the council's move. Unison Scotland regional organiser Mandy McDowall called it an attempt to 'bully' staff into a 'shoddy deal' and warned the council risked being labelled a 'pariah employer'. Unite the Union's industrial officer, Graham McNabb, described the fire and rehire tactic as a 'scandalous threat' and vowed to meet it with 'the full force of Unite'.