With the British Gas strikes ongoing, I recently joined local gas engineer Daniel to talk about why he was fighting back against his employers’ plans to push him onto a worse contract with no choice. Companies firing their employers and rehiring them on worse terms is not new. What is new is more and more people waking up to this injustice and demanding change. 

With the company refusing to even negotiate, British Gas workers have been left with no choice but to go on strike. It’s completely wrong for a profitable company to try and use a crisis as an excuse to force their workers to do more hours for less money with reduced rights. 

When we allow big companies to fire their entire workforce and rehire them on worse terms, this sends a shockwave through the wider economy. The more companies are allowed to do this, the more likely it is to have a knock-on effect, bringing down standards in other companies too. After a decade of wage stagnation for the vast majority of people, we simpky cannot afford this as we rebuild from Covid.

That’s why, as well as standing with British Gas workers to Stop the British Gas Fire, I’m echoing their call to outlaw the practice of fire and rehire altogether.

Support British Gas workers in their fight for fair pay and conditions: https://www.gmb.org.uk/campaign/back-british-gas-workers