Monday August 17th 2026
Glasgow City Chambers
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Sarah Hilley
Thousands of Glasgow City Council staff could see a rise in wages while a lower number of workers could see a drop under a proposed deal to finally end years of pay discrimination.
In an overhaul to the pay and grading structure, some 24,000 staff jobs are being evaluated so salaries are fair and reflect work carried out.
For people in line for a rise, any increase would be backdated to 2023 while those staff getting a reduced pay packet would see their salary levels protected for six months.
The huge change would cost the council a £65 million increase in wages for the first year and an estimated £11 million the following year. It is understood there would also be £76 million in arrears to cover.
In addition, a huge currently undisclosed compensation sum is to be paid out.
Council leader Susan Aitken said: “I need to emphasise that every effort has been made to keep as low a number as possible of staff who will be in pay detriment as a consequence of this pay and grading system.”
She pointed out there was always going to be “losers as well as winners” as the current pay and grading system had discrimination built into it and attempted fixes that also led to further inequality with regards to pay.
She added: “For some staff this isn’t going to be good news. I have asked the chief executive to explore every possible avenue to support those staff. They will receive pay protection for six months after the new system comes in in April. Beyond that, for a small number of our staff, there will be a shock to their household incomes. So I have asked the chief executive to explore every avenue to support them and try and mitigate that impact.”
Eighty per cent of workers have already had their salary evaluated and will see their pay adjusted in April – with the remaining staff to be assessed following that.
Eleven per cent of staff whose pay packets have already been assessed would see a reduction while 65 percent would get a rise with others seeing no change.
Councillor Aitken added that a “considerable majority of these 24,000 staff will gain – some significantly, some marginally.”
The pay deals are to go in front of councillors at the city administration committee for approval. Trade unions have been involved in the pay and benefit role changes.
The major shake-up aims to ensure the council faces no more claims since agreeing to pay out about £770 million to thousands of former and current staff to settle equal pay disputes. over pay inequality. The battles stemmed from the council paying women compensation in 2005 in a way, which introduced more discrimination.
Councillor Aitken said: “It is a landmark in the journey to pay inequality it reduces the council’s gender pay gap by half a percent. It is virtually impossible to get it to zero. We can safely say we now have a robust pay and grading system that delivers pay equality and fairness across our workforce.”
If approved on Thursday, the council will communicate with staff about the changes.
SNP Councillor Aitken added: “I think it is not an exaggeration to say this is probably one of the biggest exercises carried out by any local authority in the UK in terms of the UK and the scale and impact of it. Glasgow City Council employ more people than any other local authority by some distance. The English local authorities even those comparable in size to us do not employ the same number of people. That is not even taking into account teachers – they are not part of this.”
Tweet Share on Facebook
