ALL staff at Glasgow City Council are to be told they are to be “dismissed” and issued with new contracts to impose a controversial new pay and grading scheme.
Talks with Unison broke down today and the council said it has “no option” but to take the dramatic move of imposing the deal in what is a fire-and-rehire process affecting between 22,000 and 24,000 employees.
GMB and Unite unions were in favour of putting the deal to their members, which included an additional £110 million, but Unison decided not to.
A meeting was planned for today, but Unison withdrew, leading to all non-teaching staff being told their current contracts will be ended.
Teachers are covered by a national pay agreement with Cosla and not included in the pay and grading scheme.
The council said: “There is now no agreed way forward between the council and the joint trade unions.
"This means that in order to lawfully bring our discriminatory pay and grading structure to an end and replace it with a non-discriminatory scheme we will have to dismiss all of our non-teaching staff and issue new contracts.
"Letters will be sent to staff next week and the new contracts will take effect on January 1st.”
Colin Edgar, director of communications at the council, said: “The council has gone as far as it can. The new pay and grading scheme removes unequal pay and sees pay rise or stay the same for 90% of staff – the council’s total pay bill will be substantially higher.
“For those staff who are in detriment, our Joint Trade Unions negotiated an increase in pay protection from six months to 12 months. Additionally, some Trade Unions are devoting energy to local consultations to mitigate the impact on those colleagues in detriment – focussing on providing specific solutions.
“We acknowledge the joint statement made by GMB and Unite unions earlier today. Officials had hoped to have further talks with Unison this afternoon to understand why they are not willing to consult their members, but they did not attend a scheduled meeting.”
He added: “We understand that issue of dismissal notices, regardless of how much we reassure people that we intend to re-engage, will cause significant concern to our staff, which is why we have worked so hard to avoid this necessity. We value our staff and we want their service with us to continue. This is purely precautionary, but it could and should have been avoided.”
GMB and Unite wrote to members stating that the council must still make the offer to allow members to decide.
It stated: “The GMB and Unite position demands that Glasgow City Council should formally table this offer so that you and your fellow Union members can vote on it.”
The letter to members stated: "The very real alternative is that Glasgow City Council will engage in the fire and rehire process and the pay and grading scheme implemented will be what was passed at the August 20th councillor meeting and not the improved offer with the additional £110m included.
"GMB and Unite will take steps to secure this additional money one way or the other – it is more straightforward if your employer tables the offer but if they do not, and they engage in fire and rehire, both Unite and GMB will immediately enter into dispute to secure the improved package and halt fire and rehire."
Earlier this month, we revealed that domestic abuse advocacy workers warned they were facing salary cuts of more than £10,000 under Glasgow City Council's new pay and grading scheme, prompting fears for staff retention and the future of the service.
Workers at ASSIST, which supports victims of domestic abuse through the court process, said the proposed changes would see some salaries fall from around £47,000 to £35,500 by April 2028.
Staff described the impact as "catastrophic" and said they were concerned experienced colleagues could be lost as a result.
We previously reported that how school support staff in Glasgow voiced concerns over the council's proposed pay and grading scheme, saying they felt overlooked and undervalued. Among them was health and wellbeing worker Angela Mallon, who said her role involves far more than many people realise, including providing one-to-one support and personal care for children.
We also previously revealed how a Glasgow City Council support for learning worker said she was left feeling undervalued after discovering she faced a pay cut under the local authority's new pay and grading scheme.
The Southside employee spoke out after being bitten by a pupil, saying staff regularly deal with challenging situations and increasing demands despite concerns over their pay and conditions.
