Workers at Scottish Water will take part in 24-hour strike action on 28 March. Trade unions have warned that more industrial action is ‘inevitable’ due to the stance of Scottish Water executives.
The previous scheduled industrial action inclusive of a standby ban and a ban on contractual overtime over two consecutive weekends was postponed to allow talks through the conciliation service Acas.
Unite has severely criticised Scottish Water executives for using the talks as a device to ‘water down’ an offer made to the workforce, and to fall back on an inferior offer.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, said:
“Unite’s membership at Scottish Water is at the end of the road with the duplicitous behaviour of excessively paid executives.
“Strike action will now hit Scottish Water very soon with more days of action inevitable due to a culture of arrogance gripping the public body. Unite will fully support our members in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions at Scottish Water.”
The offer withdrawn at Acas talks on Wednesday (12 March), which had already been rejected by Unite, amounted to a basic pay rise of 3.4% or at least £1,400 for those on the lowest grades over a nine month period (July 2024 to April 2025).
Scottish Water has said that the only formal pay offer on the table is a ‘watered down’ offer which amounts to the same percentage increase or £1,050 for those on the lowest grades over the same period.
Scottish Water issued the following statement after talks with the Unison, Unite and GMB Scotland trade unions on Wednesday March 12.
A Scottish Water spokesperson said:
“We would encourage the trade unions to get back round the negotiating table again so we can work with them and ACAS to secure a good pay award for our people.
“No-one benefits from industrial action, and we would encourage the joint trade unions to resume negotiations as soon as possible so that we can resolve any outstanding issues amicably and continue to deliver for our millions of customers across Scotland.
“Our above-inflation pay offer is fair and progressive, prioritising the highest percentage increases in the business for those on the lowest salary grades – money that should be in employees’ pockets now.
“We have been negotiating this particular pay deal since December and it has not changed.”
Scottish Water state that their pay offer includes:
– An above-inflation 3.4% increase, with a guaranteed pay rise of at least £1,400 for those on the lowest job grades, meaning some employees will receive around 5.5%.
– This is in addition to an 8% increase in 2023 and further uplifts with pay progression already paid in 2024, meaning, if this pay offer is implemented, Scottish Water’s salary bill will have increased by 17% in just two years.
– All Scottish Water employees are also eligible for an annual out-performance bonus and the business recently reduced the working week to 35 hours from 37 hours previously.
Scottish Water’s model of being publicly owned, independently regulated and commercially run has helped it become one of the top performing utilities in the UK, delivering excellent customer satisfaction scores and some of the highest water quality standards in Europe.
The Scottish Parliament holds Scottish Water and Ministers to account. It is responsible for providing water and waste water services to household customers and wholesale Licensed Providers. Delivers the investment priorities of Ministers within the funding allowed by the Water Industry Commission for Scotland.
Unite is highlighting that Scottish Water’s counterparts in Northern Ireland in contrast received a £1,500 non-consolidated payment and a five per cent wage rise in December.
Due to the key frontline roles undertaken by Unite’s membership in sewers, water treatment centres and on pipework, the industrial action will directly impact Scottish Water’s ability to respond to water leakages, flooding, pollution, and quality concerns over these weekends.
Unite is highlighting the ‘eye-watering’ executive pay levels at Scottish Water. Scottish Water’s executive team were awarded £329,000 in bonuses and benefits in 2023/24. The three key executives of Scottish Water, Alex Plant, Peter Farrer and Alan Scott, amassed £842,000 in remuneration packages with the outgoing chief executive Douglas Millican also collecting £55,000 before his exit in May 2023.
Alex Plant, the chief executive on top of his reported £246,000 salary received an overall remuneration package totalling £483,000. The executive and non-executive members, including the chair, of the public body benefited from remuneration packages worth a combined £1.15m up from £854,000 in 2023.
Sam Ritchie, Unite industrial officer, said:
“Unite agreed to postpone previous rounds of industrial action to give conciliation talks a chance so we could try to find a breakthrough in the dispute. Instead, Scottish Water has used the talks as a device to string us along while watering down their existing proposals which is unacceptable to our membership.”
Water bills in Scotland are set to rise by 9.% in April which will equate to an average monthly household increase for water and wastewater services of £3.68 per month or £44 per year from April 1.
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