Scotland Secretary Douglas Alexander has condemned Glasgow City Council's decision to dismiss and re-engage thousands of workers under a new pay and grading structure, accusing the SNP-led administration of pressing ahead with "fire and rehire" just months before new UK employment protections come into force.
Alexander said:
"It's a reminder to all of us in the Labour movement - that the SNP may claim to be fellow progressives but this is what an SNP council has done months before the UK Labour Government's ban on fire & rehire comes into force."
His comments follow the breakdown of talks over Glasgow's long-running equal pay programme and the implementation of a new pay and grading system affecting tens of thousands of council employees. Council documents show the new structure has been under development for years as part of efforts to replace arrangements associated with historic equal-pay problems.
Alexander invokes Kinnock's 'grotesque chaos' attack
Alexander opened his intervention with the phrase:
"Grotesque chaos"
- invoking Neil Kinnock's famous criticism of Labour-run Liverpool in the 1980s.
He said Labour MPs from Scotland had backed the UK Government's Employment Rights Act, which he described as delivering the biggest upgrade to workers' rights in a generation.
Alexander argued that the Glasgow dispute showed why the new rules were needed, saying the council was seeking to dismiss staff and re-engage them on revised terms before the reforms take effect.
Equal pay reform has been years in the making
Glasgow City Council has been working for several years to replace its existing pay and grading structure following long-running equal-pay litigation.
Council audit documents show around 19,000 employees had already been matched against primary benchmark roles, with thousands more covered by secondary benchmarks and unique-role evaluations. The council had previously targeted phased implementation from April 2027, although the timetable has repeatedly shifted.
The City Administration Committee formally considered the latest implementation proposals on 20 August 2026, alongside a joint trade union response.
Labour says workers should not face dismissal
Alexander said the dispute affected not only council employees but also Glasgow residents who depend on essential local services.
His statement said:
"Not only the employees but Glasgow residents who rely on these vital services deserve better."
He called on the council leadership to "get back around the table today and find a better way forward".
That position mirrors criticism already made by Glasgow Labour and Labour MP John Grady, who have also urged the council to resume talks and avoid dismissal and re-engagement.
Pressure now on SNP-led council
The dispute places fresh political pressure on Glasgow's SNP-led administration ahead of implementation of the new pay structure.
The council's argument is that it must finally deliver a lawful and sustainable replacement for a pay system that has generated years of equal-pay disputes. Labour's argument is that this objective should not be achieved through mass dismissal and re-engagement.
Alexander's intervention therefore sharpens the political dividing line: he accepts the need for pay reform, but says Glasgow's workforce should not be forced through a fire-and-rehire process to achieve it.
