Glasgow City Council has started issuing letters to sack and rehire roughly 23,000 of its non-teaching employees under new terms after talks with unions collapsed, in what has been described as one of the largest fire-and-rehire exercises in the UK.
Negotiations between the SNP-led council and the three main unions representing staff — GMB, Unison and Unite — have been focused on a proposed pay and grading overhaul intended to address longstanding pay equality issues. Talks broke down late last week and again this week, leaving the council to press ahead with dismissal-and-reengagement notices.
Unison has said it will not ballot members on the council’s offer because the package would make about 11% of council employees worse off. That refusal prompted the council to begin issuing formal letters to affected staff, a step that would terminate existing contracts and offer reappointment on the new terms if employees accept.
The approach has raised concerns among unions and campaigners who view fire-and-rehire tactics as contentious and disruptive to industrial relations. The council and the unions had been negotiating changes intended to settle historical disparities in pay, but details of any further talks or potential mediation were not disclosed in the reporting.
For now, thousands of council workers face uncertainty over their employment terms and take-home pay while both sides consider their next steps. The unfolding dispute will be watched closely for its potential to trigger industrial action or for moves to reopen negotiations to avoid large-scale dismissals and reappointments.