Hundreds of ‘devastated’ British Gas engineers who have lost their jobs today vented their fury after they refused to sign up to tougher employment terms under a controversial ‘fire and rehire’ scheme which has cast a shadow over chief executive Chris O’Shea’s first year in office.
The energy supplier, which is one of the UK’s Big Six, handed dismissal notices to around 1,000 engineers who install and repair boilers and heating systems for the company’s nine millions service customers, on April 1 amid a bitter row over pay and working conditions.
Employees who had refused to sign up to tough new contracts forcing them to work longer hours and face cuts to higher pay rates for working over weekends and bank holidays were granted a two-week grace period in which to either change their minds or lose their jobs.
Parent company Centrica, which currently employs around 20,000 people in the UK, announced plans last summer to cut about 1,000 jobs and change the terms of existing contracts using a controversial ‘fire and rehire’ tactic that has infuriated unions.
The British Gas owner claimed the changes were needed to protect jobs as it tried to shore up its market position while battling to compete with rivals after sinking to a £362million loss last year amid increasing competition and the volatility caused by the pandemic.
In the last two weeks, hundreds of engineers had agreed to the new deals. However, it is understood around 500 engineers had still refused to agree to the new terms by the end of Tuesday, with between 300 and 400 people who did not sign by midday today set to lose their jobs.
British Gas said it expected less than 500 employees to ‘choose to leave’, telling the BBC that the changes in the contracts were necessary to protect the company’s future.
However, dozens of those who lost their jobs today took to social media to condemn the actions of British Gas, with one former employee writing: ‘I won’t sign an inferior contract.’
GMB Union said British Gas ‘should be ashamed’ of the way it had treated workers, as it posted photos on Twitter showing vans being collected from engineers across the country.
British Gas engineers have shared their fury as hundreds today lost their jobs after refusing to sign up to tougher employment terms under a ‘fire and rehire’ scheme
Another engineer, who worked with the company for 20 years, said the only ‘thanks’ they received was a demand for the return of his ‘two-year-old honking work shoes’ and van.
Debbie Tinsley said: ‘So by this time tomorrow I, along with many others, will be fired by British Gas. What have we done wrong? Absolutely nothing.
‘We just didn’t agree to their new contract that would make us work longer hours for less pay. Thirty years of loyal service counts for nothing.’
Daniel Caie added: ‘It’s my last day at British Gas today. I’m getting dismissed for not signing their new contract.
‘So big thank you’s to: The Inverness & Elgin team for being sound and sharing vital experience throughout my 10 years.
‘The BG Twitter community for giving it a hell of a fight.’
Those who chose not to sign the divisive new contracts were applauded by Ed Miliband, who said he was ‘proud to support the British Gas workers who are taking a stand against unacceptable ‘fire and rehire’ tactics.’
British Gas workers who are members of the GMB union go on strike in Windsor in January
Dozens of those who lost their jobs today took to social media to condemn the actions of British Gas, with one former employee writing: ‘I won’t sign an inferior contract’
Taking to Twitter, he added: ‘Boris Johnson said that ‘fire and rehire’ was unacceptable, but he’s done nothing about it. The government needs to act now.’
Nadia Whittome, Labour MP for Nottingham East, said: ‘Today British Gas fires hundreds of its workers.
‘Why? They wouldn’t sign new contracts that would make their lives worse.
‘Companies shouldn’t be able to do this. Fire and rehire should be illegal.
‘Solidarity to those affected. Time to change the law.’
The GMB Union today insisted British Gas should be ‘ashamed of themselves’ for their use of the controversial scheme.
Politicians are among those who have called for the ‘fire and hire’ scheme to be scrapped
Andy Prendergast, GMB acting national secretary, told the Guardian many of its 8,000 engineers had agreed to the terms ‘under duress. ‘
Under the updated contracts, full-time British Gas engineers are required to work an additional three hours per week to 40 hours in total. They will also not be paid a higher rate when asked to work on weekends and Bank Holidays.
The terms sparked furious opposition in recent months, with the GMB Union staging more than 40 days of strike action to protest what it dubbed the ‘mass sacking’ of staff.
Centrica today said it achieved ‘collective agreement’ with the majority of unions other than GMB over the terms following two rounds of talks which began in July last year.
It added that the ‘vast majority’ of their 7,000 members have signed.
Those who chose not to sign the divisive new contracts were applauded by Ed Miliband, who said he was ‘proud to support the British Gas workers who are taking a stand against unacceptable ‘fire and rehire’ tactics’
A spokesman for Centrica told MailOnline: ‘There is a job for everyone at the end of this process. We are changing the way we work to give our customers the service they want and protect the future of our company and 20,000 UK jobs.
‘Today marks the end of the period for our employees to sign new contracts. These are highly competitive, and our changes are reasonable.
‘Around 98 per cent of the entire company has accepted and we hope the remaining, also sign and choose to stay.
‘We have not cut base pay or changed our generous final salary pensions. Our gas service engineers remain some of the best paid in the sector, earning £40,000 a year minimum.
‘While change is difficult, reversing our decline which has seen us lose over three million customers, cut over 15,000 jobs and seen profits halved over the last 10 years is necessary.
‘The changes will also unlock our ability to grow jobs and hire 1000 green apprentices over the next two years.’
It comes after Centrica revealed its annual underlying earnings had plunged by nearly a third as it shed more customers and was hit by the pandemic and warmer weather.
The Windsor-based group, which reported a 31 per cent drop in underlying operating profits to £447million for 2020, lost nearly 165,000 customers last year.
Britain’s largest energy supplier also reported a £362million loss from continuing operations for last year, but this was less than the £783million loss posted for 2019.