Gas workers protest over new contracts

Gas engineers are to hold weekly protests in a dispute over new contracts. Scottish Gas workers staged action in Leven, yesterday in protest at alleged threats to fire staff who refuse to accept pay cuts.

One Fife-based employee said he and his colleagues were distraught at the company’s attempts to change their terms and conditions, and claimed they had been betrayed.

“Last year when lockdown came we were classed as key workers,” said the man, who asked to remain anonymous.

“There are engineers who went into Covid-live properties to fix people’s heating to keep them warm when they were ill.

“They were doing that while behind our backs the company was plotting to slash our terms and conditions.”

The man said he and his colleagues had been proud to work for Scottish Gas and volunteered to deliver food parcels in the company’s name to people in isolation.

“We did that while on furlough and this is how we’re repaid,” he said.

Scottish Gas and British Gas, owned by energy giant Centrica, have been accused of “divide and conquer tactics” to bully staff into signing up to new terms before they are effectively sacked and brought back into employment on new contracts.

The “fire and rehire” row affects 20,000 employees across the UK.

The changes are being fiercely opposed by the GMB union.

The Fife worker said: “Under the new terms we’ll get paid less for doing more.”

Workers have been staging strike action against the proposals, which includes starting their working day on arrival at their first job, excluding travelling time.

The Fife worker said many people were being asked to work 156 hours a year extra, more pay.

“Service engineers are starting earlier and working longer hours,” he said.

“The protest is gathering pace and we’ll be here every Monday and Friday.

“We just feel we’ve had the heart ripped out of us and we’re distraught.”

Leven Labour councillor Colin Davidson supported the workers’ protest yesterday near the Diageo plant, describing the company’s actions as outrageous.

“It’s awful that during a pandemic, a company that has made almost £1 billion in profit worldwide is even contemplating a change to workers’ conditions,” he said.

Centrica insists it is trying to protect jobs and that staff have only been asked to work three hours extra per week.

It described the change as “reasonable”.

A Centrica spokeswoman said 83% of employees had already agreed to the new terms. without any

DISPUTE: Engineers make their point. They say they’ll protest every Monday and Friday.