Glasgow city council has reached a pay and grading agreement with Unison, the largest of three unions representing its workforce, avoiding a fire-and-rehire redundancy exercise that would have been among the biggest in UK history.
The deal comes after previous negotiations collapsed when Unison refused to put a council proposal to its members for ballot. The council had been attempting to introduce a new pay and grading system to address historical equal pay issues, but the initial offer triggered the union walkout.
The fresh agreement will now go to Unison members for a ballot vote. The council described the new proposal as "strong and fair". The talks also involved the GMB and Unite unions, though the source material does not specify whether those unions have reached separate agreements or their current negotiating position.
Fire-and-rehire is a process where employers dismiss staff and offer reemployment on different, typically less favourable, terms. The scale of the proposed Glasgow exercise had made it a rare and contentious case in UK industrial relations.
The breakthrough follows the collapse of talks in early October when Unison leadership rejected the council's initial pay restructuring proposal, citing concerns about its impact on members.