The Full Story

A plain summary built from the channels that reported this story.

Glasgow City Council is set to dismiss and rehire more than 23,000 workers, almost its entire workforce apart from teachers, as it changes pay arrangements at Scotland's largest local authority.

The council says its current pay structure is unequal. It says the new contracts are needed to address that. Under the new terms, about 90% of staff would receive the same pay or better. But around 11% would lose some salary. A source in the social care sector said some workers stand to lose 20% of their pay, about £9,000.

The move would mean old contracts are torn up and staff are rehired on new terms. Unions have opposed the plan. They called it a shoddy deal and accused the council of bullying. Council officials rejected that accusation.

The council is one of the biggest local authorities in Britain. The changes would affect nearly all staff except teachers. The dispute centres on equal pay and has prompted a sharp response from unions as the council prepares to press ahead.

On screen

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Sky News, Sky News Today with Sam Washington, 25 September 2026

Key Claims

Claims reported during this story's coverage, mapped by channel. Ordered by how many channels carried each claim.

Claim Sky News
Glasgow City Council plans to dismiss and rehire more than 23,000 workers, which would affect almost all staff except teachers.
Glasgow City Council says the new terms would give 90% of staff the same or better pay, while 11% would lose some salary.
Unions criticised the deal as shoddy and said staff were being bullied, claims the council rejected.

Channel Perspectives

What each channel focused on, with key quotes.

Sky News led with the scale of the move at Scotland's largest local authority and framed it around the council's equal pay case. Its correspondent in Glasgow focused on the near-total workforce impact, the pay losses for some staff, and the angry union response. The report also carried the council's rejection of the bullying claim.

Key Quotes:
  • “more than 23,000 of its workers, almost the entire workforce, bar teachers, are examining a situation where they're going to be fired and then rehired”
  • “But 11%, thousands of people still losing out some of their salary.”
  • “They say this is a shoddy deal. They are being bullied by the local authority.”

Broadcast Timeline

News broadcasts tracked for this story, in time order.

Sky News Today with Sam Washington