More than 1,000 British Gas workers across Scotland will launch 12 more days of strike action from today, in response to Centrica chief executive Chris O’Shea’s refusal to drop his ‘fire and rehire’ policy.

Engineers will walk out this weekend, and again from 19 to 22 March, and finally from 26 to 29 March, taking the total number of strike days in the dispute to 42.

GMB Scotland members in British Gas will take part in a socially distanced picket line at the British Gas Services Centre in Uddingston.

The latest wave of strikes was confirmed after workers across the UK voted by a majority of four-to-one against proposals tabled through ACAS over the future of their terms and conditions.

After 30 days of previous strikes, more than 250,000 homes across the UK are in a backlog for repairs and 350,000 planned annual service visits have been axed.

GMB Scotland senior organiser Hazel Nolan said: “This dispute can end now if Chris O’Shea finally does the right thing by dropping his controversial ‘fire and rehire’ policy.

“It’s shameful that in the grip of the pandemic, Centrica are using this public health crisis to threatened workers with the sack if they don’t accept imposed changes to their livelihoods.

“This is the kind of behaviour you would expect from a cowboy contractor and not the chief executive of a great British institution.

“The message is loud and clear: stop the fire and rehire in British Gas, and let’s return to proper negotiations over the future of this business and its workers,” she added.

A Centrica spokesperson responded: "Our business needs to change to survive and protect 20,000 UK jobs.

"We have plans in place to manage industrial action, but we’re sorry for any disruption this is causing to our customers - we’ll continue to prioritise vulnerable customers and emergency situations."

The company added that it has offered "a fair deal" that has been negotiated over 300 hours with unions - where base pay and pensions are protected - noting that 83% of employees have already agreed to the new terms.

In January, British Gas workers burned their new contracts to show defiance of the imposition of hourly pay 15% below the agreed rate.

GMB estimated 7,000 workers downed tools over the company’s plans. More than 1,000 British Gas workers in Scotland had already walked out for five days at the start of this year.

Last June, Britain’s largest energy supplier said it planned to cut around 5,000 jobs - almost 20% of its global workforce - and change the terms of worker contracts.

The proposals would allow it to terminate existing contracts and offer fresh terms, known as a section 188 notice.

A previous statement from GMB said that O’Shea has refused to accept efforts to negotiate a way forward for the business. Instead, after months of talks, workers have been told to accept cuts to wages and conditions, or face being sacked.

All British Gas divisions and services - including Service & Repair, Electrical Services, Smart Metering, Installations and Customer Services - have been impacted.

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