Thousands of Glasgow council workers face pay cuts in one of UK’s biggest fire-and-rehire plans

Unison union refuses to ballot members on offer that would make 11% of council employees worse off

Thousands of Glasgow council workers face being sacked and reappointed under less favourable terms in one of the UK’s biggest ever “fire-and-rehire” exercises, after union negotiations broke down once again this week.

About 23,000 workers – all of the council’s non-teaching staff – first heard they were affected last week when talks between the SNP-led council and the GMB, Unison and Unite unions fell apart. Those negotiations concerned a new pay and grading system designed to resolve historical pay equality issues. Unison refused to ballot its members on an offer that would mean pay cuts for 11% of council employees, prompting the council to begin issuing fire-and-rehire letters.