GAS engineers in York are taking part in a five-day strike over ‘fire and re-hire tactics’ by British Gas.

The GMB union said its members were staging their first strike in generations after its calls for a rethink and a ‘common sense partnership approach’ to negotiations around terms and conditions went unheeded.

It said the company had refused to bend on plans to fire and re-hire its workers on reduced pay and weakened terms and conditions.

Regional organiser Peter Davies said members had been working tirelessly to ensure customers were kept safe and warm, often at no insignificant risk to themselves and their families.

He said that to be hit with fire and rehire tactics and given the stark choice of ‘accept or be sacked’ was ‘more than any worker should have to take.’

But British Gas owner Centrica claimed the GMB’s leadership ‘seems intent on causing disruption to customers during the coldest weekend of the year, amid a global health crisis and in the middle of a national lockdown.’

A spokesperson claimed GMB’s mandate for strike action was weak and it was fighting against modernisation and changes which would help protect well paid jobs in the long term.

They claimed more than 83 per cent of the workforce have already accepted its new terms, in which base pay and pensions were protected, and it had strong contingency plans in place to ensure it was still there for customers who really needed it, prioritising vulnerable households and emergencies.

A GMB member striking in York, service and repair engineer Elizabeth Clements, said she was one of the faces of British Gas after being used in its advertising but would end up working longer hours for less pay under the new contract. She said she would be standing outside her van each day, as members could not attend rallies because of Covid rules.

York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell has tweeted her support:”I stand with the GMB_union members on strike at British Gas. It’s time for the company to withdraw the fire and re-hire threats.”