Council chiefs making fire and rehire threats should be sacked, union suggests

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Council chiefs who threaten staff with fire and rehire should be sacked, according to a trade union.Representatives from GMB Scotland made the claim at the Scottish Labour conference.It comes after two local authorities threatened to take the controversial action in disputes over pay and conditions with their staff.Fire and rehire is when an employer sacks its staff and re-employs them, often on poorer terms.West Dunbartonshire and Aberdeen City councils suggested they could use the technique, with staff striking yesterday outside council buildings in protest.GMB Scotland secretary Louise Gilmour said the tactic bullied workers into accepting poorer conditions and was only used by the worst employers in the private sector.She said: “It beggars belief that councils, or any public sector organisation, would think this is an acceptable way to treat staff.“It breaches both Scottish Government guidelines on fair work and proposed legislation from the UK Government to protect workers.“No decent employer would ever make this kind of threat and it is dismaying that at least two councils would consider it.“Councils should be looking to the best employers for inspiration not the worst and most unscrupulous.”Aberdeen City Council, where members of all staff unions demonstrated outside council buildings yesterday, and West Dunbartonshire Council suggested new contracts might be imposed on staff in an attempt to cut costs.The threat was lifted in West Dunbartonshire in the face of opposition but remains on the table in Aberdeen where unions say frontline workers, many of them women in lifeline roles, would have most to lose.Speaking in support of an emergency motion at the conference, GMB delegate Annette Drylie said fire and rehire