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Scottish Water workers agree pay deal after strikes called off

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scottish water striking workersImage source, PA Media
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Scottish Water workers, including many based at the company's site in Stirling, staged a four-day walkout last month

Scottish Water staff have ended an industrial dispute after accepting a new pay offer.

Unite, GMB and Unison members voted in favour of a deal for an 8% basic pay increase.

About 500 staff staged a four-day walkout last month but called off further action to consider the new offer.

Scottish Water had described it as an "exceptional pay award and a modern pay and grading system".

The pay rise will be applied to all overtime, call-out and standby rates worked since April 2023.

Unite, which announced the joint trade union agreement, said the working week would be reduced to 35 hours without loss of pay from November 2024.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: "Let's be clear this deal only came about through the determination of our members to fight for a better deal through strike action.

"Unite is once again showing why we are leading the fight to improve the jobs, pay and conditions for workers."

'Delighted'

Peter Farrer, chief operating officer at Scottish Water, said the firm was "delighted".

"This has only been made possible by retaining the connection of the pay award to modernising our reward foundations which gives us the ability to go beyond the level of award permissible under the Public Sector Pay Strategy," he said.

"We are fully committed to working with our unions to ensure a reviewed pay and grading structure is in place by March 2024."