BRITISH GAS engineers are back on the picket lines this weekend after the company once more failed to withdraw its fire-and-rehire attack on pay and conditions.

The 7,000-plus service engineers, members of the GMB union, walked out today for another four-day stoppage after “overwhelmingly” rejecting an offer that emerged from talks at conciliation service Acas.

When the strikers return to work on Tuesday they will have taken 30 days of action since the dispute began last year – and the union’s leadership has already sanctioned further action through to April.

GMB national secretary Justin Bowden said: “British Gas’s fire-and-rehire plan is the main obstacle to members accepting a deal – they need to remove it now if we are to progress. 

“After 26 days of strikes, more than 210,000 homes are in a backlog for repairs and 250,000 planned annual service visits have been axed – the company is misleading the media that it is catching up after 24 hours.”  

Centrica chief execuive Chris O’Shea risked escalating the dispute further by threatening to go over the union’s head and “talk directly to those colleagues who have not yet agreed to their new contracts.”