United Kingdom - Water workers secure long-overdue pay offer - December 31, 2024

Workers at Northern Ireland Water and NI Water Alpha have ended their industrial dispute after accepting a pay offer that includes a 5% increase and a one-off payment of £ 1,500 (€ 1,807). The deal, covering the 2023-2024 fiscal year, aligns with pay awarded to other civil service workers. Trade unions Unite and GMB warned that the agreement highlights deeper issues within NI Water. Despite the pay increase, many frontline workers remain on wages barely above the national minimum, including skilled trades and craft workers. This has led to recruitment and retention challenges, putting the maintenance of critical water infrastructure at risk. Union representatives stressed that the pay deal was won through the strength of collective action and strike preparedness.

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For more information, please contact Paul de Beer or Oana Ciuca, De Burcht (Scientific Bureau for the Dutch Trade Union Movement) p.t.debeer@uva.nl or the Head of communications at the ETUI, Mehmet Koksal mkoksal@etui.org. For previous full issues of the Collective bargaining newsletter please visit https://www.etui.org/Newsletters/Collective-bargaining-newsletter or consult the archive with all articles in our database at www.cbnarchive.eu.
You may find further information on the ETUI at www.etui.org.