Glasgow Labour has accused the SNP-Green administration of allowing the city's pay and grading dispute to reach the point where more than 23,000 council workers are set to be dismissed and offered new contracts.
Glasgow City Council confirmed on Thursday that all non-teaching staff will be issued dismissal notices after talks with trade unions broke down. New contracts under the council's revised pay and grading structure are due to take effect from 1 January 2027. STV reports that around 24,000 staff are affected.
Glasgow Labour said:
23,000 council workers now face fire and rehire.
The group said it had previously warned that the dispute could reach this stage and had called for dismissal and re-engagement to be ruled out.
Labour calls for ACAS involvement
Glasgow Labour leader Councillor Rashid Hussain said the council should return to negotiations with unions and involve ACAS if necessary.
He said:
The prospect of fire and rehire being used against thousands of Glasgow City Council workers is an egregious development.
Hussain argued that workers providing essential services should have "security and respect" rather than the threat of dismissal hanging over them.
Glasgow Labour opposed the administration's pay and grading proposals at the City Administration Committee on 20 August and warned at the time that the council risked damaging relations with the unions.
Dispute centres on new pay and grading structure
The row follows years of work to replace Glasgow's existing pay and grading system, which was found to discriminate against predominantly female workers.
The SNP administration and Greens voted in August to proceed with a new structure. According to STV, the council says the new scheme will raise or maintain pay for about 90% of staff, while around 11% could ultimately lose income after transitional protection ends.
The council says it has been negotiating the new arrangements for eight years and that the overall pay bill will rise substantially under the new structure. It argues that implementing the scheme is necessary to end unequal pay.
Talks with unions break down
The immediate trigger for the dismissal process was the collapse of talks between the council and the trade unions.
According to reporting on Thursday, GMB and Unite were prepared to consult their members on the council's latest offer, but UNISON declined to hold a ballot. The council said this meant there was "no agreed way forward".
The local authority says an agreement would have removed the need for dismissal notices and included additional protections for workers facing a reduction in earnings.
SNP and Greens face Labour criticism
Glasgow Labour argues the administration had an opportunity last month to rule out fire and rehire and instead voted to proceed.
Hussain said:
This could be the biggest Fire and Rehire in history.
He called on the SNP and Greens to "take responsibility, rule out fire and rehire and find an agreement with the workforce".
Glasgow City Council is now led by SNP councillor Ricky Bell, who succeeded Susan Aitken earlier this month.
Long-running equal pay dispute
The dispute sits within Glasgow's much longer battle over equal pay, which has resulted in significant settlements for predominantly female workers over many years.
The council's challenge is to replace the discriminatory structure with a lawful system while reaching an agreement acceptable to unions and employees.
Glasgow Labour's position is that pay reform must go ahead, but should be negotiated with the workforce rather than imposed through dismissal and re-engagement. The immediate pressure is now on the council and unions to determine whether talks can be revived before dismissal notices translate into new contracts in January.
