Trade Union Latest: Scottish Water Statement

Scottish Water has issued the following statement on Tuesday 8th April, following the announcement of planned industrial action: 

A Scottish Water spokesperson said: “We are very disappointed that we have still not been able to reach an agreement with the trade unions.

“We would encourage them to restart meaningful negotiations as soon as possible and to recognise the need to agree on a sustainable pay award for our people.

“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 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 improved the offer in an effort to reach an agreement with the trade unions and we are now offering a combined deal for 2024/25 and 2025/26. This is a strong offer which is above inflation and the public sector pay policy.”

The Scottish Water pay offer includes:

- An above-inflation 3.4% increase for 2024/25, 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%.

- A second year increase for 2025/26 has also been offered that would take the cost of the deal over two years to more than 7%, and we have invited the trade unions to negotiate on this.

- 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.