Glasgow City Council pauses plan to fire and rehire 23,000 staff

Glasgow City Council has suspended its plans to fire and rehire more than 23,000 members of staff.

The pause follows online negotiations between the council and three trade unions, chaired by Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth.

Talks involving the GMB, Unison and Unite unions are set to resume early next week, aiming to reach a new pay agreement.

Staff will not receive the termination letters that were previously scheduled to inform them of the fire‑and‑rehire proposals.

The SNP‑led authority had threatened to dismiss thousands of employees and re‑hire them under new contracts after equal‑pay talks collapsed.

The discussions centered on replacing a pay system deemed discriminatory against predominantly female workers. While most employees would be unaffected or see improvements, the changes would reduce pay for approximately 11 % of staff.

Gilruth stated that the Scottish government opposes fire‑and‑rehire schemes and has urged the council and unions to return to the negotiating table.

She said: “Given the significance of this situation and the impact on staff, I wanted to bring all parties together to make clear that I expect negotiations between the council and unions to continue so that a collective agreement can be reached and bring an end to discriminatory pay practices.

My expectation is that all parties act in line with the principles of fair work and continue to exhaust all avenues for collective agreement.”

Representing Unite, Unison and GMB, the Scottish Trades Unions Congress commented: “We are pleased at the lifting of the threat of fire‑and‑rehire and that meaningful negotiations will take place next week.

We also welcome the Scottish government’s clear statement that the practice of fire‑and‑rehire does not align with the principles and expected practice of fair work.”

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