British Gas strike chaos hits 100,000

STRIKE action by British Gas engineers has led to more than 100,000 appointments being cancelled or delayed, it was claimed yesterday.

Thousands of heating engineers are holding a seventh day of action today in a row over a ‘fire and rehire’ policy.

Parent company Centrica wants to impose a new contract with changes to pay and hours.

The GMB union said that, after talks failed, British Gas threatened to sack its engineers and rehire them on the new contracts under less favourable terms if they did not sign by March. Engineers are planvulnerable ning to burn the contracts in a ‘show of defiance’ at a number of locations across the country today.

It marks the seventh day of industrial action, with around 7,000 engineers expected to strike.

GMB estimates that the disruption means appointments are being cancelled or changed at 100,000 households – causing chaos during the busy winter period. More strikes are planned on January 25, 29, 30, 31 and February 1.

British Gas disputes the 100,000 figure, and says it has strong contingency plans and will prioritise households and emergencies.

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer and Mayor of London Sadiq Khan are supporting the strikes. Mr Starmer said the next Labour government would outlaw the ‘fire and rehire’ practice.

Centrica insists its contracts must be ‘modernised’, with the company having lost half of its earnings over the past ten years as millions of customers leave it for rival energy suppliers.

It says it will not be changing base pay, of around £40,000-a-year, nor pensions, and is trying to protect jobs. However, in 2019 the company still recorded a pre-tax profit of £901million.

Centrica has issued a ‘Section 188’ notice which involves offering ‘ reengagement on new terms’, however the company maintains this has always been a last resort.

The GMB’s Justin Bowden said: ‘British Gas has provoked disruption to more than 100,000 households already in the backlog for services. That number will grow due to the new strike dates.’

A Centrica spokesman said: ‘The burning of contracts is disturbing. Millions of people are losing jobs… but yet we have GMB leaders encouraging the burning of contracts worth £40,000 a year. It’s also offensive to 83 per cent of our employees who agreed to our changes.’

‘Burning contracts is disturbing’