Scottish Water staff strike called off by unions after 'productive' talks

Unions representing staff at Scottish Water have called off strike action after “productive talks”.

They say talks with the company, through conciliatory service ACAS, have been productive and they will meet again on Monday to consider an improved offer.

Unison, Unite and the GMB have a further strike planned for Tuesday, with Friday’s strikes halted.

Workers were due to walk out for 24 hours just after midnight on Thursday, after recently rejecting a deal worth around 2.8%.

Sam Ritchie, Unite industrial officer, said: “Unite can confirm that following constructive pay talks we have agreed to suspend strike action on Friday, May 2.

“Industrial action is still scheduled for Tuesday but talks have taken on a more positive tone with Scottish Water management.

“We remain fully committed to getting a fair pay offer for our membership and to resolving this dispute.

“There has been significant movement by management which leads us to believe that a better offer may be imminent.”

Unison represents more than 1,000 workers at Scottish Water, where it is the largest union.

Unison Scotland regional organiser Emma Phillips said: “After productive talks with Scottish Water managers today, tomorrow’s strike is suspended.

“Talks will continue on Monday. But unless all sides can reach an agreement, Tuesday’s walkout will take place.”

A spokesperson for Scottish Water said: “We met with the Joint Trade Unions (JTUs) on Thursday and the talks were constructive.

“We have another meeting on Monday and we hope that the outcome will be positive.

“No-one benefits from industrial action and our focus is on continuing to deliver for our millions of customers across Scotland.

“Our above-inflation pay proposal 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.

“The strikes planned for Tuesday, 6 May are still scheduled to proceed pending the outcome of Monday’s meeting.”

Scottish Water say the proposal is a combined average value of around 7% of salary for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, well above inflation.

Those in lower graded roles could receive total salary increases of almost 11% over this period, said the body.

A spokesperson added: “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.

“During the strike action, contingency plans are in place to enable us to maintain normal services. Our advice to customers is to report any issues to us as they would do in normal circumstances.

“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.”