More than 1,000 Scottish Water workers are staging a two-day strike from Tuesday, as a deepening pay dispute continues at the publicly owned utility. Members of the UNISON union say the latest pay offer does not address years of real-terms wage cuts, with workers demanding fair compensation for delivering vital services to Scotland’s five million residents.
The strike action, which marks the second walkout in less than a month, will run through Wednesday. UNISON has warned that during the Scottish Water strike, emergency repairs and water quality checks will not be carried out, potentially impacting services across the country.
Union Criticises Pay Offer and Senior Management
According to UNISON’s Scottish Water branch secretary Tricia McArthur, workers are asking for fair pay in line with their critical role. “Things are meant to be different in a publicly owned service like this. But senior managers are behaving no differently to those running private companies south of the border,” she said.
UNISON rejected the proposed 2.6% pay deal, arguing it fails to match inflation and does little to address years of stagnant wages. In contrast, Scottish Water claims the actual offer equates to a 3.4% average increase, with a minimum uplift of £1,400—translating to a 5.5% rise for the lowest-paid employees.
Scottish Water Defends Offer and Activates Contingency Plans
Peter Farrer, Chief Operating Officer at Scottish Water, defended the pay proposal, describing it as “fair and progressive.” He said contingency measures were in place to minimise disruption and urged unions to return to negotiations: “No one benefits from industrial action, and our priority remains delivering for our millions of customers across Scotland.”
Scottish Water is a state-run body and differs from its counterparts in England, which were privatised in the 1980s. The company claims to reinvest all its profits—around £800 million annually—into maintaining and upgrading a vast network of 30,000 miles of pipes and approximately 2,000 treatment facilities.
Concerns Over Sewage Pollution Persist Despite Public Ownership
While Scotland has avoided the scandals that have plagued privatised English water companies like Thames Water, concerns remain over sewage pollution. Environmental Standards Scotland previously reported thousands of sewage overflow incidents within a single year, including storm overflow sites discharging waste more than 500 times.
The agency warned that only a limited number of sites are adequately monitored and highlighted the ongoing risk to both public health and the environment from untracked pollution.
