Glasgow City Council has agreed to pause its controversial plan to “fire and rehire” more than 23,000 employees following a significant breakthrough in discussions with trade unions.
The decision, confirmed on the evening of Friday 25 September 2026, halts a process that would have seen thousands of non-teaching staff, including refuse workers and nursery employees, issued with dismissal notices as early as next week.
Negotiations between the council and the three main unions—Unison, GMB, and Unite—are now scheduled to resume early next week.
The scale of the dispute
The row centres on a proposed new pay and grading structure intended to resolve long-standing equal pay issues within the local authority. The equal pay dispute has already cost the council approximately £770 million in settlements to date.
Under the council’s current proposals, the majority of staff would see their pay increase or remain the same. However, around 11% of the workforce—roughly 2,500 people—face pay cuts. In some instances, unions claim these reductions could amount to more than £10,000 per year.
The council had originally planned for the new contracts to take effect from 1 January 2027. The use of “fire and rehire”—a practice where an employer dismisses staff and offers to re-employ them on different terms—had been described by union leaders as “immoral” and “deplorable.”
National intervention
A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council indicated that the pause would allow for “meaningful dialogue” to continue without the immediate threat of dismissal notices hanging over the workforce. According to reporting from STV News, the talks will look to address the impasse that led to the breakdown in talks earlier this month.
Next steps for staff
For the 23,000 to 24,000 affected staff members, the pause provides a temporary reprieve from the immediate threat of redundancy notices. It remains unclear whether the council’s proposed back-pay offer will remain on the table in its current form as talks resume.
The outcome of the discussions early next week will be critical in determining whether a voluntary agreement can be reached on the pay and grading system, or if the council will eventually return to the “fire and rehire” strategy to implement the changes by the 2027 deadline.
