HUNDREDS of lab staff at Scotland’s flagship Covid testing site are facing redundancy within weeks despite record virus rates.
The Unite trade union has called for the First Minister and Scottish Government to urgently intervene after it emerged that 745 lab technicians and sample handlers at the Glasgow Lighthouse Lab could be laid off.
It warned that the loss of expertise posed a threat to public health and would hamper efforts to track future Covid variants.
The Lighthouse Lab - part of a UK-wide network of Covid testing facilities - has been hosted by Glasgow University at its campus on the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Govan since March 2020.
However, Unite said the university had been forced into a 45-day consultation on redundancies last week “due to the lack of funding and pending contracts”. If no resolution can be found, around 745 employees face having their contracts terminated from May 14.
Unite is taking legal advice on the contractual position of its members, and argues that the move reneges on a previous commitment by the UK Health Security Agency to safeguard the roles until at least September 2022.
The job losses come after the UK Treasury cut funding for universal Covid testing.
Community-based PCR sites have already closed in England and Wales and will close in Scotland on May 1.
Confirming the closures in March, Nicola Sturgeon said the Scottish Government would “do everything we can to support those who have worked on the testing programme” as it is wound down.
However, Unite criticised the failure to commit to redeploying staff.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary said: “The Glasgow Lighthouse Lab workforce is at the heart of protecting public health in Scotland and at a time when Covid rates continue to run high, it is a disgrace that hundreds of highly skilled jobs, knowledge and experience is potentially going to be lost.
“Unite is determined to protect our members and will explore every option, including legal ones, to fully defend their jobs, pay and conditions.”
Around 120 posts are expected to be created in Scotland for ‘resilience/surge’ testing to manage Covid outbreaks, and to facilitate ongoing smaller-scale surveillance by the Office for National Statistics.
Unite is urging the Scottish Government to “do everything possible” to ensure the work remains in Glasgow.
Alison MacLean, the regional officer for Unite, said: “There has been no commitment from the Scottish Government to extend the funding or redeploy this critically important workforce.
"Covid numbers, hospitalisation and deaths have increased in Scotland, and notwithstanding the future impact of Covid variants, this grave uncertainty for 745 workers is bewildering and dangerous.”
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said the planned job cuts were “deeply concerning”, adding: “We need to ensure that testing capacity is retained, particularly so that we have the ability to cope with the demands of the health and social care sector and in the event of new strains of the virus appearing.”
Dr Sandesh Gulhane, Scottish Conservative Shadow Health Secretary, said it was “unacceptable” that the lab staff “looked to have had the rug pulled from under them”.
He added: “We should have a plan to retain and redeploy expertise, not simply show them the door.”
A spokesperson for the UKHSA said the end of routine Covid testing will result in a “significant drop in laboratory demand”, but added that discussions “remain ongoing around the role that the Glasgow laboratory will play as part of the resilience built into the laboratory network and our plans for contingency capacity”.
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: "The Glasgow Lighthouse Lab has been a high performing lab throughout the Covid-19 response and we are grateful to staff for their dedication and hard work.
“We are in close contact with the University and are aware of its consultation with staff and trade unions on potential job losses relating to the cessation of UK Government-held testing contracts and are disappointed that the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) has not been able to provide further clarity on future activity.
“The Scottish Government is working with the University to enable it to support all staff involved to find where necessary, alternative employment opportunities either with their existing employer or with another employer or sector.
“We are actively engaging with trade unions to ensure whatever approach is taken in future has the workforce at the heart of those discussions.”
It comes as US firm Catalent confirmed that it has acquired a UK vaccine manufacturing plant in Oxfordshire.
The Vaccine Manufacturing and Innovation Centre (VMIC), which is being built to help the country respond to future pandemics, was reportedly put up for sale despite receiving more than £200 million in taxpayer investment.
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