Glasgow City Council and Unison reach agreement in pay and grading row

Published5 October 2026, 15:03 BSTUpdated 4 minutes agoGlasgow City Council and the largest council union, Unison, have reached an agreement in a pay and grading dispute.

The local authority says this means it will not consider firing and rehiring more than 23,000 staff.

The dispute was over the new pay and grading structure designed to deal with the underlying issues which led to thousands of equal pay claims from women workers past and present.

Unison said negotiations were continuing and it would ballot its members later this month.

Glasgow City Council pauses plan to fire and rehire 23,000 staff

Published26 SeptemberCouncil leader Ricky Bell said: "I am delighted that we have been able to reach agreement with Unison.

"This deal means we are able to remove the unpalatable prospect of fire and rehire, with proposals put to members in a ballot later this month."

Bell added that it was a "strong and fair deal" and confirmed that both the GMB and Unite unions had also agreed to take it to their members.

He said: "With all three unions now engaging with their memberships, we are moving closer to the outcome we have always wanted to achieve: ending pay discrimination in Glasgow City Council once and for all."

The council leader said additional support from the Scottish government had "helped unlock this agreement" and thanked the unions for their engagement.

He concluded: "While there is no further money to come as part of this package, I look forward to the outcome of the ballots in the coming weeks.

"We have always been clear that our goal is to deliver a fair, sustainable pay and grading system that works for employees and protects vital public services. We are now closer than ever to achieving that."

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