Delegates at Labour Party conference have backed an emergency motion calling for an end to fire and rehire.

The motion, which also calls for the New Deal for Working People to be delivered in full “without further dilution or delay”, comes as the SNP-run Glasgow City Council threatens more than 20,000 workers with dismissal and re-engagement by the end of the year.

The decision was halted on Friday following an intervention by the Scottish Government.

The motion condemned Glasgow City Council’s plans as “potentially the biggest single act of fire and rehire in British history” and said it recognised “a historic equal pay injustice and the continued failure of previous Labour administrations to deliver justice for working women”.

Employment law changes made by the Labour government will see fire and rehire made illegal from January next year.

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Moving the motion, Louise Noble, deputy convener for Unison Scotland, said: “Workers should never be threatened with the sack because they refuse to accept changes to their pay and conditions.”

Mary Finn, from GMB, seconded the motion and said: “This is bigger than Glasgow. Equal pay is a fundamental right that underpins all of our working lives.”

She added that she hoped the Labour government would show “urgency and ambition”.

It comes days after new Scottish Labour leader Michael Marra told party conference that “the threat of fire and rehire” should be “taken off the table for good”.

He told delegates: “Back that motion, send the clearest possible message that the Labour movement will never accept threats to working people.”

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