Opinion
Why are these men and women prepared to sacrifice pay day after day?

George Binette, Hackney North & Stoke Newington CLP Trade Union Liaison Officer
A placard is held on the picket line on day one of a five-day strike by British Gas engineers in a dispute over pay and conditions - Credit: PA Wire/PA Images
Strikes in 2021 rarely gain much national media attention, so it would be unsurprising if readers were unaware of a bitter dispute involving thousands of workers employed by Centrica subsidiary British Gas, still profitable and Britain’s largest energy supplier.
Almost 90 per cent of GMB union members balloted backed walkouts on a 59pc turnout.
Since January 7 some 9,000 GMB members have struck for 16 days with further action now suspended for talks with the employer. Why, then, are these men and women prepared to sacrifice pay day after day?
Last July, amidst the pandemic, British Gas management announced its intention to alter employment contracts, incorporating worse terms and conditions for over 20,000 staff.
While negotiations led to management dropping some demands, the company still insisted on a longer working week for field engineers – largely GMB members – without additional pay. Skilled engineers responsible for boiler installation and repair now face working 156 extra hours a year for the same salary alongside a cut in sick pay and holidays.
You may also want to watch:
GMB members overwhelmingly rejected management’s demands. In response Centrica’s chief executive, Chris O’Shea (base salary: £775,000), seized on legislation from 1992 to threaten to “fire and rehire” these workers on imposed new contracts.
The threat has sparked both anxiety and anger. A striking engineer in the West Midlands said “...they’re holding this ‘fire and rehire’ over us like a metaphorical gun to our heads”.
Most Read
- 1 Hackney road closure campaigners to stand in by-election
- 2 Sewage flooded flat as man struggled to report issues amid cyber-attack
- 3 Hackney activist denies racism but resigns from diversity commission
- 4 Purim celebrations 'will be a bit different this year', says Hackney mayor
- 5 Fortnightly waste collections launched to 'encourage recycling' in Hackney
- 6 Woman rescued from Benthal Road blaze
- 7 Baby Edward: Police confirm biological mother was found
- 8 Hackney Half marathon postponed following government's lockdown roadmap
- 9 'Largest cannabis farm we've ever seen,' say Homerton police
- 10 Finsbury Park trains set to be cancelled for railway work
British Gas has provoked determined resistance, but it’s hardly alone in using the 1992 law. Employers including BA, Heathrow Airport Holdings, a Birmingham NHS Trust and even Tower Hamlets council have relied on the power to “sack and reengage”.
Labour nationally calls for the law’s repeal, but in the meantime British Gas workers needs the party’s activists and politicians along with other trade unionists to back their fight.
- George Binette is the Hackney North & Stoke Newington CLP trade union liaison officer.