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FORESTRY – RESULT FOR LOWEST PAID
Forestry workers will be receiving pay rises of between 2 per cent and 5 per cent this year. And while Unite conceded that the forestry pay claim wasn’t quite plain sailing, it did work towards uplifting some of the sector’s lowest paid workers.
Unite national officer Bev Clarkson said, “The pay award this year wasn’t quite straight forward.
“The Forestry Commission had a pay purse of 5 per cent. After negotiations, this was distributed among workers with lower paid workers receiving a higher percentage.”
Bev added that, “We wanted to acknowledge that workers on the lower pay scales were just over the National Minimum Wage and often had to rely on food banks.”
The New Forest – Forestry workers will receive pay rises up to 5 per cent
SCOTTISH WATER STRIKE
Unite members employed by Scottish Water took strike actions in April, May and June in an escalation of a dispute over pay. The 500 members are based in offices and wastewater treatment works across the whole of Scotland. Unite warned that more industrial action is ‘likely’.
Unite has criticised Scottish Water executives for using talks through the conciliation service Acas as a device to ‘water down’ a pay offer made to the workforce, and to fall back on an inferior offer made last year. The ‘watered down’ offer amounts to a basic pay rise of 3.4 per cent or £1,050 for those on the lowest grades over a nine-month period.
Boiling point – Unite Scottish Water members on strike in April
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham, said, “Unite members at Scottish Water refuse to accept the double standards of eye-watering pay for executives, while workers have to make do with a rehashed pay offer that fails to deliver a decent pay increase.”
Unite fully expects that the industrial action will directly impact Scottish Water’s ability to respond to water leakages, flooding, pollution and
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quality concerns. Unite is highlighting the ‘eye-watering’ executive pay levels at Scottish Water.
Sam Ritchie, Unite industrial officer, added, “Strike action at Scottish Water will continue for as long as it takes to resolve this issue. The action being taken is a direct result of Scottish Water’s arrogance in ignoring our members legitimate demands for a decent pay increase.”
Alamy
Alamy
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