Scottish Water pay dispute continues

Scottish Water workers that are members of the Unite, GMB and Unison unions went on strike last Tuesday and Wednesday as part of an ongoing dispute over pay.

Peter Farrer, Scottish Water’s chief operating officer, said the company had further improved its proposal in the week before the latest strike, in an effort to reach an agreement. He was disappointed that unions had not put the new deal to a member vote.

Scottish Water said the new pay proposal offers a combined average value of around 7% of salary for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, with those in lower-grade roles in line for total salary increases of almost 11% over this period. All employees are also eligible for an annual out-performance bonus and the business recently reduced the working week to 35 hours from 37 hours.