WORKERS employed by Scottish Water are staging a two-day strike amid a continued dispute over pay.
Members of the unions Unite, GMB and Unison are on strike from 00.01 today 22 April and tomorrow Wednesday 23 April following a one-day strike last month.
The publicly-owned company said it had contingency plans in place to maintain services.
Unison warned that emergency repairs and water quality checks would not be carried out and problems with supply or sewage would have to wait until the strike was over.
It said it had rejected a 2.6% pay offer, amounting to some £1,050, as it ‘fails to compensate staff for a decade of real-term pay cuts’.
Unison Scotland regional organiser Emma Phillips said: ‘Strike action is always a last resort.
‘Staff have suffered a decade of pay deals that haven’t kept up with inflation.
‘They are not willing to be underpaid any longer.
‘The union has done everything it can to try and get Scottish Water’s senior managers to put a fair offer on the table, but they are refusing to be reasonable.’
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, and pay.’
Claire Greer, GMB Scotland organiser, said the company revised its offer after talks with conciliation service Acas but only made it worse.
She said yesterday: ‘Its pay offer covering last year and a substantial part of this year was too long, too complicated but, most importantly, too low.
‘The strikes will go on and action will escalate until our members are made a fair and acceptable offer.’