Union to serve notice of industrial action after accusing utility of sabotaging negotiations
Workers will go on strike at Scottish Water after accusing the company of sabotaging pay talks.
GMB Scotland served notice yesterday [FRIDAY] for a walkout later this month with longer and more disruptive strikes being planned.
The union said all members will take action on 28 March after accusing the company of reducing the terms of a pay offer already rejected by workers.
They had voted against an offer of 3.4% or £1400 covering the last nine months as the company changes the date for annual rises to take effect from July to April.
At talks at conciliation service Acas on Wednesday night, however, the publicly-owned utility revealed the minimum backpay would only be £1050.
Claire Greer, GMB Scotland organiser, said the company had sabotaged the talks without warning or reason: “It is by now hard to be surprised by how this company conducts negotiations but, even for them, this is beyond the pale.
“The terms of the offer were clear, had been discussed at length and had already been rejected by our members.
“For the company to arrive at talks intended to find a way forward only to produce a completely different and inferior offer is not just frustrating, it is inexplicable
“We have spent months discussing this offer only for it to be turned upside down at the eleventh hour for no apparent purpose and with only one possible outcome.
“They are gaslighting workers and making apparently firm offers that change in the wind.
“It is a nonsense and no way to conduct grown-up negotiations.
“While the actions of this company are impossible to predict or understand, the response of our members could not be clearer. Enough is enough.”
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