Industrial Action - Your Questions Answered

Below, we have tried to answer questions you may have about the current pay talks between Scottish Water and our trade unions. We may add to this if further questions arise, so please do check back.

Why are staff striking at Scottish Water?

Following the dispute over pay, the joint trade unions are undertaking a further round of industrial action commencing at 00:01 hours on Monday, 2 June 2025, and continuing each day up to 8 June 2025 when the action will conclude at 23:59 hours.

This follows the announcement by joint trade unions on Friday, 30 May 2025, that their members voted to reject Scottish Water’s pay offer in line with the trade unions’ recommendation.

What is the Scottish Water proposal on the table?

Scottish Water last met the Trade Unions on 16 May to explore options to resolve the current dispute. During that meeting, an improved offer was made in an effort to reach an agreement.

The Scottish Water pay offer is a combined average value of around 7% of salary for 2024-2025 and 2025-2026, well above inflation. Those in lower graded roles could receive total salary increases of almost 11% over this period. The offer would increase payments for those required to undertake out-of-hours work.

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. The business believes it is a fair and progressive offer and, if accepted, will mean a very significant investment in our hard-working people.

Why did Scottish Water make an offer to change the bonus scheme, then withdraw that?

As part of our discussions, we explored a number of options. We committed to exploring increasing the potential value of outperformance payments (bonuses) as one of 4 areas to improve our offer again. 

However, having explored it as committed, it was clear that due to the bonus payments form part of a six-year regulatory settlement and the next one is due to start in 2027, it cannot be changed at this time. 

It is worth remembering that all Scottish Water employees currently qualify for an annual bonus.

We have confirmed the other 3 elements of the 4 areas that we explored.

What is the dispute about?

The jointly recognised Unite, GMB, and Unison trade unions, the JTU, have requested £3,000 for everyone in grades one to eight, and have not submitted any alternative proposal.

This is well above inflation and simply unaffordable for Scottish Water as the business balances the need to invest in essential services and affordability for billpayers.

What impact will industrial action have, and what are your contingency plans?

Scottish Water is putting in place contingency plans to protect essential services for customers ahead of planned industrial action by trade unions. A senior management team is looking at all areas of Scottish Water activity that may be impacted by strikes.

We will do all we can to ensure customers do not experience any disruption to their water supplies and that treatment of the country's waste water continues as usual, despite the planned industrial action.

A reliable water source is vital for everyone. Maintaining public health and protecting the environment are our priorities, and it is the responsible course of action for us to have contingency plans ready.

Is Scottish Water a good place to work?

Scottish Water is a good place to work, as supported by the latest staff surveys. This includes a good salary, performance-related bonus for all staff, a 35-hour week, and a defined benefit pension scheme.

Why can't you offer more to employees?

The new pay offer is comfortably above inflation, meaning it provides a real terms increase. Scottish Water gets the vast majority of its revenues from customer charges, and so it needs to balance affordability for households across the country with the need to invest in essential water and waste water services.

The company's commitment to its hard-working staff is reflected in the fact that pay costs will have increased by 17% in the last two years if the latest pay award is accepted.

As it is publicly owned, why doesn't Scottish Water follow the Scottish Government's Pay Policy?

Scottish Water is included within the public sector pay policy, and this sets strong expectations on levels of pay offers that can be made, including around the level of Chief Executive pay.

However, where circumstances require, that policy can be flexed in direct consultation with the Scottish Government, and this is why we have been able to make our employees an above policy offer for 2024.

Will any of this adversely affect future pay claims?

Nothing in the proposal would limit pay claims and the negotiation of pay deals with our unions in future years.

Why does Scottish Water pay bonuses, and who gets them?

The Scottish Government set out the pay and bonus structure at Scottish Water many years ago under the Labour/Liberal Democrat coalition, in order to make the company commercially competitive.

The incentive structure was last reapproved by the Scottish Government in late 2020 for our current regulatory period, and bonuses for employees at all levels, related to the performance of the company, are part of that incentive.