Union criticises public body for ‘watering down’ pay offer

    

Further strike action is set to hit Scottish Water as the dispute over pay at the public body escalates.  

  

48-hour strike action will take place on Tuesday 22nd and Wednesday 23rd April involving Unite’s 500-strong membership at offices and wastewater treatment works across the whole of Scotland with the union warning more industrial action is ‘likely’ (see notes to editor). 

 

Unite will stage protests and photo call:

When & Where: 9.30 a.m. Tuesday 22 April & Wednesday 23 April at Shieldhall Depot and Clatto Water Treatment Works, Dundee.

 

Unite continues to criticise Scottish Water executives for using talks through the conciliation service Acas as a device to ‘water down’ a pay offer made to the workforce, and to fall back on an inferior offer made last year. The ‘watered down’ offer amounts to a basic pay rise of 3.4 per cent or £1,050 for those on the lowest grades over a nine-month period. 

  

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, said: “Unite members at Scottish Water refuse to accept the double standards of eye-watering pay for executives, while workers have to make do with a rehashed pay offer that fails to deliver a decent pay increase.”

“Unite stands with our members in their fight for better jobs, pay and conditions at Scottish Water and we will not back down.”

  

Unite fully expects that the industrial action will directly impact Scottish Water’s ability to respond to water leakages, flooding, pollution, and quality concerns. Unite is highlighting the ‘eye-watering’ executive pay levels at Scottish Water. (see notes to Editors) 

  

Sam Ritchie, Unite industrial officer, said: “Strike action at Scottish Water will continue for as long as it takes to resolve this issue.  The action being taken is a direct result of Scottish Water's arrogance in ignoring our members legitimate demands for a decent pay increase.

 “Industrial action will inevitably result in disruption to services. The public should look to those at the top of Scottish Water as the cause of any disruption. Scottish Water have it within their gift to resolve this dispute and it has miserably failed to do so.”

  

ENDS

  

Notes to Editor:   

  

Unite will be taking industrial action from 08:00 on Tuesday 22 April at the following locations: 

  

Inverness Henderson House, Henderson Drive Inverness 

  

Dundee Bullion House, 84 Main Street Invergowrie Dundee, DD2 5BE 

  

Clatto WTW, Dundee DD3 9SE 

  

Edinburgh Fairmilehead Office, 55 Buckstone Terrace, Edinburgh, EH10 6XH 

  

Juniper House, Research Avenue North Heriot Watt Campus Currie, Edinburgh, EH14 4AL 

  

Stirling Forth House, Munro Road Stirling, FK7 7SY.  

  

Irvine Meadowhead Wastewater Treatment Works, Meadowhead Road, Ayrshire, Irvine, KA11 5AY 

  

Cumnock (Underwood), Waste Water Treatment Works, Auchinleck Road, KA18 1RS. 

  

Camphill, Waste Water Treatment Works, Largs Road, Ayrshire KA24 4LT. 

  

‘The Bridge’ Office, 6 Buchanan Gate Stepps Glasgow, G33 6FB 

  

Partick, Waste Water Treatment Works, 33 Dunbarton road Glasgow, G11 6PD. 

  

Dalmoak, Waste Water Treatment Works, Renton Road, G82 4HQ. 

  

Shieldhall, Waste Water Treatment Works, 38 Renfrew Road Govan Glasgow, G51 4SU. 

  

Hamilton, Waste Water Treatment Works, Bothwell Road Lanarkshire, ML3 0EF   

  

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. 

    

For media enquiries please contact Andrew Brady on 07810157922. 

Email andrew.brady@unitetheunion.org 

  

Unite Scotland is the country’s biggest and most diverse trade union with around 150,000 members. The union is led in Scotland by Derek Thomson.