Scottish WaterScottish Water staff will stage a two-day strike from midnight amid a continued dispute over pay.
Workers will walk out on Tuesday and Wednesday following a one-day strike last month.
Three unions are taking part in the action, Unite, the GMB and Unison.
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 at least £1,050, saying it “fails to compensate staff for a decade of real-term pay cuts”, although Scottish Water said the current offer was higher.
‘Last resort’
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, 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: “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.”
Improved offer
Peter Farrer, Scottish Water’s chief operating officer, said: “No-one benefits from industrial action, and our focus is on continuing to deliver for our millions of customers across Scotland.
“Our above-inflation pay proposal is fair and progressive, prioritising the highest percentage increases in the business for those on the lowest salary grades – money that should be in employees’ pockets now.”
He said both sides met the conciliation service Acas earlier this month to try to resolve the dispute, and since then an improved offer had been made.
“This is a good proposal, and we are disappointed that union officials have not shared it with their members and given them the opportunity to vote on the offer in a ballot,” he said.
“We urge the unions to get back round the negotiating table as soon as possible.”
He added: “We don’t recognise the 2.6% number in Unison’s statement and it’s not been part of the offer in our negotiations.
“The pay offer is an above-inflation 3.4% increase for 2024/25, with a guaranteed pay rise of at least £1,400 for those on the lowest job grades, meaning some employees will receive around 5.5%.”
