By Bill Heaney
UNITE, Scotland’s largest union, has announced that it has served industrial action notice on Scottish Water, escalating the pay dispute. Members will take part in strike action on 22 and 23 April 2025.
The trade union confirmed that around 500 Unite members in key frontline roles in places such as the Ardoch Sewage Works at Havoc in Dumbarton will take part in the strike. Jobs impacted include roles in sewers, water treatment centres and on pipework. The industrial action will directly impact Scottish Water’s ability to respond to water leakages, flooding, pollution, and quality concerns.
Unite has previously criticised Scottish Water executives for using talks through the conciliation service Acas as a means to deny workers a decent pay offer and to instead fall back on an inferior offer made last year. The ‘watered down’ offer amounts to a basic pay rise of just 3.4 per cent or £1,050 for those on the lowest grades over a nine-month period.
Alex Plant, Chief Executive of Scottish Water, and his predecessor Douglas Millican on “eye watering” salaries and huge bonuses.
In contrast, Unite has highlighted the ‘eye-watering’ executive pay levels at Scottish Water. 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.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Our members at Scottish water provide a key function. Despite the essential work they do, they have seen their pay eroded for years, they are simply no longer prepared to tolerate this situation.
“Unite does what it says on the tin, and will support workers all the way in fighting for better jobs, pay.”
Sam Ritchie, Unite industrial officer said: “Unite has now served industrial action notice to Scottish Water after the failure to reach agreement on pay. The action is likely to cause major disruption across Scotland, but the blame for that lies squarely with the executive team at Scottish Water .”