British Gas engineers reject revised offer and go ahead with new strikes

5 March 2021 Download as PDF

GMB London Gas engineers strike days 27 to 30 go ahead on March 5th after members overwhelmingly reject revised offer that didn't take ‘fire and rehire’ off the table

The huge vote to reject the offer from the reopened talks by gas and electrical engineers shows that there will be no settlement until the company ends ‘fire and rehire’ says GMB London.

GMB engineers in British Gas in London and East of England are embarking on national strike days 27 to 30 from today (Friday March 5th) until Monday 8th March in a deadlocked dispute over ‘fire and rehire’ pay cuts.

This is after a revised offer for the Field staff bargaining group, put forward by the company at reopened talks at ACAS, was overwhelming rejected in a high turnout ballot vote. The offer didn't remove " fire and rehire" off the table. The vote against the offer was almost 4 to 1.

The new strike dates follow on from 26 days of strike action during January and February. See notes to editors below for links to previous GMB London press releases.

A GMB Executive Council meeting determined that action will continue until mid-April.

Gary Pearce, GMB London Region Senior Officer for Energy said:

" A revised British Gas offer at ACAS for the Field staff bargaining group has been overwhelmingly rejected by GMB members in a very big vote.

“Strike days 27 to 30 will go ahead from Friday 5th to Monday 8th March. This will be followed by action for the rest of this month.

“Before the dispute British Gas said that the offer on the table was final. However, the company did reopen talks via ACAS. The company did table a revised offer.

“However British Gas refused to take ‘fire and rehire’ off the table despite being warned that it was the main obstacle to a possible settlement.

“The huge vote to reject the revised offer by gas and electrical engineers shows that there will be no resolution until the company end ‘fire and rehire’.

After 26 days of strikes, more than 250,000 homes are in a backlog for repairs and 350,000 planned annual service visits have been axed.

The company is misleading the media that it is catching up after 24 hours.

End

Contact: Gary Pearce, GMB London Region Senior Officer for Energy 078 5003 6952

Notes to editors

Previous GMB London press releases:

GMB London Region press release 26th February 2021

GMB London - British Gas strike days 23 to 26 go ahead as parent company Centrica announces £700 million profit

GMB London Region press release 8th February 2021

GMB London - 12 more days to follow day 16 strike today at British Gas

GMB London Region press release 3rd February 2021

GMB London - Dodgy legal advice led to strikes, British Gas CEO tells Parliament