Staff at Scottish Water are to start a two-day strike from midnight tonight in a continuing row over pay, says UNISON today (Monday).
Strike action will take place across Scotland on Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 April. The two-day walkout follows a one-day strike at the end of last month.
The union says that emergency repairs and water quality checks will not be carried out during the action. Problems reported with the water supply, sewage or drainage won’t be dealt with until the strike is over either, UNISON adds.
UNISON says the offer from Scottish Water – a pay increase of 2.6% or £1,050, whichever is higher – fails to compensate staff for a decade of real-term pay cuts.
UNISON Scotland regional organiser Emma Phillips said: “Strike action is always a last resort. Staff have suffered a decade of pay deals that haven’t kept up with inflation. They are not willing to be underpaid any longer.
“The union has done everything it can to try and get Scottish Water’s senior managers to put a fair offer on the table, but they are refusing to be reasonable.”
UNISON Scottish Water branch secretary Tricia McArthur said: “Scottish Water workers are simply asking to be paid fairly for the essential services upon which everyone in Scotland relies.
“Things are meant to be different in a publicly owned service like this. But senior managers are behaving no differently to those running private water companies south of the border.”
Notes to editors:
– UNISON represents more than 1,000 workers at Scottish Water, where it is the largest union.
– UNISON’s strike ballot took place in February. There was a 69% turnout, with 65% of votes in favour of strike action.
– The two-day strike starts at 00.01hrs on Tuesday 22 April and ends at 23.59 on Wednesday 23 April.
– Staff will be on picket lines across Scotland from 7am at:
- Glasgow: Scottish Water’s Shieldhall offices, adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, 38 Renfrew Road Glasgow G51 4SU.
- Glasgow: Partick, 33 Dumbarton Road, G11 6PD.
- Glasgow: The Bridge Stepps, the Bridge, 6 Buchanan Gate, G33 6FB.
- Dundee: Bullion House, 84 Main Street, Invergowrie, DD2 5BE.
- Edinburgh: Fairmilehead, 55 Buckstone Terrace, Fairmilehead EH10 6XH.
- Edinburgh: Juniper House, Heriot-Watt University Campus, Currie, EH14 4AP.
- Ayrshire: Camphill: Camphill, Largs Road, KA24 4LT.
- Ayrshire: Cumnock: Cumnock Underwood, Auchinleck Road, KA18 1RS
- Stirling: Forth House, Munro Road, FK7 7US.
- Hamilton: Bothwell Road, Lanarkshire, ML3 0EF.
- Inverness: Henderson Drive, 31 Henderson Drive, IV1 1TR.
- Fife: Kirkcaldy Water Treatment Works, KY1 2SQ.
- Wick: Wick Depot, Units 7A & 7B Morven House, KW1 4QS.
– UNISON is Scotland’s largest union, with more than 150,000 members providing public services in education, local government, the NHS, police service and energy. They are employed in the public, voluntary and private sectors.
Media contacts:
Emma Phillips M: 07841 901890 E: e.phillips@unison.co.uk
Danny Phillips M: 07717 715277 E: d.phillips@unison.co.uk