Unison vows to ‘fight for best deal’ as talks resume on ‘fire and rehire’ plan

Union leaders are vowing to “fight for the best deal” for Glasgow City Council workers who face the threat of being fired and then rehired.

Discussions are taking place on Friday between the council, which is Scotland’s largest local authority, the trade union Unison and the Scottish Government.

It comes after council leader Ricky Bell said earlier this week he was “deeply disappointed” Unison had opted not to put the latest offer to its members.

He said the union’s actions brought “to an end” a pause that had been placed on council plans to sack 23,000 staff before hiring them back on new contracts – though Mr Bell said the authority is working with the GMB and Unite unions to “ensure that their members are not dismissed and re-engaged”.

As talks involving Unison resumed on Friday, the union stressed that “securing pay justice sometimes means refusing to settle too early and continuing to fight”.

The council is seeking to bring in a new pay structure after the previous one was found to discriminate against female workers – but Unison has raised concerns that some staff still do not know what their wage would be under the new system, and some will be worse off.

A row over the fire-and-rehire plans promoted the Scottish Government to become involved, with Unison Glasgow city branch secretary Chris Sermanni saying this had “created further opportunity to get this right”.

He added: “Unison stood firm because the previous package wasn’t good enough for Glasgow’s workers.

“We welcome every additional penny we have secured. But our job isn’t simply to get any deal over the line, it’s to fight for the best deal we can achieve before Unison members are asked to make their decision in a ballot.

“Many workers are due substantial and long-overdue increases, and we want them to receive every penny they are owed.

“But we also have workers facing significant losses and thousands of members whose outcomes remain unresolved. We will not leave them behind.”

Mandy McDowall, Unison regional organiser for Scotland, said: “Unison knows how to fight for pay justice in Glasgow because we have won it before. Our members spent years challenging discriminatory pay arrangements through the courts, in negotiations, and though industrial action.

“We know that securing pay justice sometimes means refusing to settle too early and continuing to fight when more can be achieved.

“The progress since the original proposals demonstrates why Unison was right to keep negotiating. Today’s talks are another opportunity to build on the movement we secured.

“Unison’s legal team are working alongside negotiators and we will continue our discussions with the council and Scottish Government.”

The Government said Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth “remains engaged” with the council and trade unions and “encourages all parties to continue to seek a collective agreement”.

Glasgow City Council has been contacted for comment.