LAST-DITCH talks were taking place in Edinburgh today in a bid to avert industrial action by Scottish Water staff over the festive holidays.
Burst pipes and blocked sewers could cause misery over the festive period if no deal can be reached in an ongoing pay dispute.
Talks broke down yesterday, leaving unions set to go ahead with a ban on overtime, standby and on-call cover until Janua
ry 5.
The threat comes despite Scottish Water making an improved offer to trade unions earlier this month, offering an average 3.5 per cent increase in pay for 2009-10. It had previously offered a three per cent rise over 15 months.
The firm's director of communications, Chris Wallace, said: "We are working on contingency plans to ensure our service to customers is not compromised."
"This is action by a segment of the workforce and every effort will be made to limit any effect on our customers. We would ask for understanding from our customers as we seek to limit the impact of this unfortunate action."
The three unions, Unison, GMB and Unite, said they were disappointed that they had not managed to resolve the dispute.
If the action goes ahead, staff who would deal with water or sewage treatment failures, burst mains or flooding will not be available over Christmas and New Year.
Dave Wilkinson, chairman of the Unison water branch, said: "Regrettably, Scottish Water have failed to come up with an acceptable offer. Scottish Water can improve the offer and I would urge them to reconsider their position."
Dougie Black, Unison's regional organiser, said it was still possible to resolve the dispute, with industrial action due to start today.
He said: "We remain hopeful that we can reach some type of settlement."
