GAS workers in Scotland are to being a fresh twelve-day wave of strikes from tomorrow as part of what was described as the "biggest dispute seen in the sector for 40 years".
Over 1,000 Scottish Gas workers in Scotland are expected to take part in the continued action in a dispute over a "fire and rehire" cuts to pay and terms and conditions.
It will take the total number of strike days in the dispute to forty-two.
Union leaders say that after thirty 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.
It comes in response to Centrica chief executive's Chris O’Shea’s refusal to drop his controversial ‘fire and rehire’ policy described as "Dickensian" by the GMB union.
Engineers will walk out just after the early hours of tomorrow (Friday) until 21.59 March 15 and again on March 19 to March 22 and finally on March 26 to March 29.
Centrica which owns British/Scottish Gas told the Herald before the first wave of stoppages that they did everything they could to avoid industrial action.
And they said they had contingency plans in place to allow them to continue to serve customers with the majority being carried out by their own engineers and also with the help of existing contractors.
READ MORE: Scottish Gas workers in new wave of 'fire and rehire' strikes
The latest wave of strikes was confirmed after workers across the UK voted by a resounding majority of four-to-one against proposals tabled through ACAS over the future of their terms and conditions, with Centrica refusing to lift the ‘fire and rehire’ imposition.
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 COVID-19 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. It’s not modern, it’s Dickensian and there should be no place for this in our country.
“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.”
The union said that thousands of gas and electrical engineers were told in July that if they did not agree new terms and conditions, which their union the GMB characterised as containing “draconian” cuts to their terms and conditions, they would be “fired then rehired.”
The strike followed a 9-1 vote in favour of industrial action by members of the GMB union, which has accused British Gas, which trades as Scottish Gas north of the border, and parent firm Centrica of planning to cut pay, terms and conditions.
In December, a cross-party group of MPs urged Centrica’s bosses to withdraw any threat of firing and then rehiring the British Gas engineering workforce.
The prime minister Boris Johnson was also asked for his support for workers in the House of Commons.
The only exceptions to the industrial action were to be dealing with emergencies and problems for households with vulnerable people as temperature's plummet and the nation enter a third national lockdown, according to the union.
In June Centrica said it was to cut 5,000 jobs as the company tries to set a new course amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
Centrica said it would strip out three layers of management to slimline the business and cut down on bureaucracy.
Around half of the 5,000 lost jobs were to lost among the company's leadership, management and corporate staff.
In February, last year, Centrica delivered its worst financial results since 2015, reporting a pre-tax loss of £1.1 billion for 2019 massively down from a £575 million profit in 2018.
Adjusted operating profits generated by British Gas fell by 71 per cent to £137 million, the lowest in the supplier's history.
The first wave of strike action within British/Scottish Gas began on January 7.
A Centrica spokesman said: "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."
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