Glasgow council plans new contracts for non-teaching staff

Glasgow City Council says it plans to dismiss all non-teaching staff and offer them new contracts from January 1, 2027, after talks with unions over a revised pay structure stalled. The council says it will withdraw the notices if all three unions ballot members on enhanced terms and reach a collective agreement. Estimates of the workforce affected range from about 23,000 to 25,000. The proposed contracts are intended to replace the council’s existing pay and grading arrangements, which it says are discriminatory. The council has approved a new framework, but says it would apply that framework without the latest enhancements if no agreement is reached. The notices are therefore a stated step toward implementing the new structure, not confirmation that staff have already been dismissed. Glasgow City Council says an enhanced offer included an additional £110 million for back pay and would remove dismissals from the table if all three unions agreed to ballot members and reached a collective deal. It says GMB and Unite were prepared to put the offer to members, but that Unison withdrew support. GMB and Unite have also said they were willing to ballot their members on improved terms.