Scottish Water staff to ballot for strike action after pay talks collapse

dailyrecord.co.uk:

Scottish Water staff are preparing to vote on industrial action following the collapse of pay negotiations. GMB Scotland said its members will be balloted next week after a 3.4 per cent was "overwhelmingly rejected".The union has accused the water company of "misrepresenting the terms of the offer" and "risking the trust" of its employees.

A spokesperson for Scottish Water countered that an increased offer had not been presented to staff by the unions and said ballotting members as "premature".The company also disputed GMB Scotland's figures, stating that the offer to employees was actually a 3.95 per cent increase, not 3.4 per cent.

The three-week ballot will start Monday January 27. Claire Greer, GMB Scotland organiser, expressed her disappointment at being embroiled in another dispute with management so soon after the last one.She stated: "We had hoped the company had understood the need for trust and transparency in industrial relations.

Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case."The offer made to our members is too low and it is no surprise that it has been so overwhelmingly rejected.