Warring factions in the £20m dispute which left over 200 workers in limbo for days have rounded on Scotland's largest social landlord, accusing it of incompetence and calling for an inquiry into how it handled the fiasco.
Sources close to negotiations accused Glasgow Housing Association (GHA) of "giving the appearance that Glasgow is closed for business to private firms" and claimed that a contractor, Connaught, had been "caught in the crossfire" of a larger political power struggle.
The accusations came after Glasgow Housing Association said last night that City Building, an arm's-length company of the council, would now resume the contract for repair and maintenance on the south side of the city at the expense of Connaught. The move comes after days of protracted negotiations which stalled over a £20m pensions bond for the 230 staff it was inheriting from former employers City Building.
The work will be carried out by council-owned City Building, as was previously the case, however there is still confusion over how long that will run, with GHA claiming the entire contract will be put back out to tender, while City Building understands it will kick in for five years.
City Building said it was "delighted" with the outcome, but Connaught expressed "regret and extreme disappointment" that it would not be carrying out the work.
In the wake of negotiations, Glasgow City Council has questioned the transparency of the process and said Scotland's Housing Regulator should investigate.
The Herald understands Connaught believes City Building exploited the situation to ensure it got the Glasgow-wide contract but last night the two parties rounded on GHA, holding it mainly responsible for the debacle.
The source said: "There is no doubt Connaught have been caught in a crossfire in someone else's battles. There's also no doubt that there's incompetence within GHA and how they've taken this process forward. It's a situation where an inquiry is warranted to understand how we ended up in this mess."
George Ryan, Glasgow City Council's executive member for regeneration, said: "We think that the whole process has not been transparent, therefore the regulator should investigate this and see what has happened."
Peter Jones, northern managing director of Connaught, denied his firm was to blame for not knowing previously that the pension bond would be so large.
The firm claims it understood the figure would be around £3m instead of the required £20m.
Mr Jones added: "We have operated public-sector contracts in Scotland and across the UK and done many staff transfers, including providing pension bonds, and have never experienced anything like this. I think its clear there was no incompetence on our part."
Mike Kirby, Scottish organiser for Unison, said: "The workers have felt a bit like pawns, as have the tenants to an extent."
The Herald also understands cross-party councillors in Glasgow are to ask the regulator to investigate other aspects of the contract dispute.
But GHA said that it had been keeping the regulator abreast of the scenario since it unfolded last week and that "while others in Glasgow played politics", it was trying to secure a solution.
A spokeswoman said: "We have been hugely disappointed at the behaviours and positions adopted by a number of parties over the last week and the disregard shown for tenants and for workers."
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