Glasgow City Council has reached an agreement with the trade union Unison regarding pay and grading, preventing what could have been one of the UK's largest fire-and-rehire exercises. This agreement follows earlier breakdowns in talks between the council and unions GMB, Unite, and Unison.
The previous collapse of negotiations led the council to inform 23,000 non-teaching staff that they were at risk of dismissal and re-engagement, potentially on less favourable terms. The original proposal would have resulted in wage cuts for 11% of staff, but the council has now agreed to protect their pay for three years.
Unison has stated that while many issues remain unresolved and negotiations will continue, the union will now ballot its members this month. Both GMB and Unite have already agreed to present the deal to their members. The ballot for Unison members will last four weeks, with a timeline to be announced in the coming days.