More than 20,000 Glasgow City Council staff to be fired and rehired after union talks break down

More than 20,000 Glasgow City Council staff will be fired then rehired under new contracts after talks between the local body and trade unions broke down

In a statement, the council said all of its non-teaching staff will be dismissed and reintroduced with new contracts, with details to be sent to individuals concerned next week.

The change for 23,000 workers will take place on New Year's Day, and comes after talks with GMB, UNITE and Unison collapsed.

A Unison organiser said that the council's decision represented "bosses trying to bully (staff) with arbitrary deadlines".

Glasgow City Council said that GMB and UNITE agreed to ballot members on an offer it said "would have seen a substantial injection of cash to fund additional back pay and take the possibility of dismissals off the table" in talks over ending a discriminatory pay structure.

However, the council said Unison withdrew its support for the measure and "provided no substantive reason for this".

Colin Edgar, council director of communications, said that the authority "has gone as far as it can" with the offer, and said, "it beggars belief that (Unison) would betray their own members in this way".

He added that if all three unions balloted their members on the proposed pay offer, "we will of course withdraw these notices" of dismissal, but said if not, "then staff will be reengaged on the terms set out in the recently agreed City Administration Committee report which do not include the enhancements".

"We value our staff and we want their service with us to continue," he said. "This is purely precautionary, but it could and should have been avoided."

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In response, Unison Scotland regional organiser Mandy McDowall said: "Glasgow City Council staff are not going to be bounced into a shoddy deal by bosses trying to bully them with arbitrary deadlines.

"Clearly both sides need to keep talking to resolve matters fairly. The council's decision to dismiss workers helps nobody.

"Glasgow City Council risks being labelled a pariah employer if it refuses to negotiate in good faith with its staff."

Ms McDowall added that the council "didn't have to issue dismissal letters today, they chose to" - and said: "Council employees deserve a fair deal and Unison will continue to work with their managers to secure one."

Unite industrial officer Graham McNabb also said: "Glasgow City Council must remove direct threats to our membership in its proposed new pay and grading structure, whether it is through cuts to terms and conditions, or the scandalous threat of fire and rehire tactics.

"If they go down this reckless path, then it will be met with the full force of Unite."

GMB has not yet commented publicly on the matter.

Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra said: "It beggars belief that the SNP council is threatening to railroad through fire and rehire before it is made illegal in this country by the UK Labour government.

"It may not break the letter of the law, but it certainly breaks the spirit of it. It's a despicable way to treat working people. It's straight out the Tory playbook.

"All parties need to get round the table and hammer out a deal. Working people should never be threatened like this again"

(c) Sky News 2026: More than 20,000 Glasgow City Council staff to be fired and rehired after union talks break do