Marra urges Labour members to back motion on Glasgow fire and rehire bid

Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra has urged members to back an emergency motion at the party’s conference condemning an attempt to fire and rehire more than 20,000 council staff in Glasgow.

Glasgow City Council announced a pause to the plan on Friday following a substantial backlash and a request from deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth.

The move, which would have impacted 23,000 staff, came after a breakdown in talks with unions over a long-running equal pay dispute.

Fire and re-hire will be made illegal as of January as a result of employment law changes brought in by the UK Government.

An emergency motion on the issue will be debated at the Labour conference in Liverpool on Tuesday.

Speaking to the Press Association ahead of the debate, Mr Marra said: “I want the Labour conference to send the strongest possible message to the SNP in Glasgow and across Scotland that the way that they are treating workers with threats of fire and re-hire is absolutely appalling.

“Workers cannot be treated this way, trying to push through this form of action just weeks before the Labour Government makes it illegal is a gross betrayal of the people.”

He added that it was a “real signal of the incompetence of the SNP leadership” in Glasgow.

“There has been a pause put in place, but I think a strong message from this Labour conference can only help that process.”

The long-standing equal pay claim in Glasgow stems from a time when Labour were in power in the city, with Mr Marra saying “we need to deal” with the issue.

Deputy First Minister Jenny Gilruth described a ‘challenging’ position from the council (Robert Perry/PA)

PA Wire

On Sunday, Ms Gilruth said the position from the council was “quite challenging”.

“None of us wanted to arrive at the position that we were in on Friday,” she said.

“I’m very pleased that we were able to secure a pause in the process, that was my ask as deputy First Minister that we pause the process to allow that intensive engagement to continue.

“So that’s exactly what we’ll be restarting from the beginning of next week to ensure we can get an outcome that will improve the pay of workers across Glasgow.

“This relates to historic challenges that Glasgow City Council inherited in terms of equal pay, so they’re moving forward on those measures and we’ll work with the trade union partners to help support a resolution for the workforce.”

On Friday, the council’s workforce convener Allan Casey said: “I’m pleased that we’ve reached a position, following a meeting with the Scottish Government and the three unions, where a pause has been agreed, allowing the Acas package to be put back on the table and creating the space for further intensive negotiations with the joint trade unions.

“Our goal remains clear: to secure collective agreement on a new pay and grading scheme that is free from discrimination and can be put to the workforce in a ballot.

“Both I and the wider council leadership remain fully committed to working with trade unions and staff to deliver a fairer and more sustainable pay structure for the future.”