Unison calls for better pay for water industry workers

Unison is calling for better pay conditions for water sector workers after companies paid out executive bonuses while at the same time providing below-inflation pay rises to staff across the sector in 2023.

The trade union has said that nationalisation of the water industry is “desperately needed” and has slammed the fact that while senior staff bonuses were paid at five of eleven wastewater companies, the wider industry saw below-inflation pay settlements, recruitment freezes and job losses.

While several water bosses publicly relinquished bonuses last year, Unison noted that since 2019 £10 million has been paid in bonuses, £14 million in incentives and £603,580 in benefits.

Unison is calling on regulators and government to intervene by stopping bill increases. It said legislation should make companies, rather than customers, pay to restore the waterways to good health and protect jobs in the industry. Water and sewerage companies, it added, are failing the environment, their customers and their workers while asking billpayers to stump up for the required investment in infrastructure.

Costs are set to jump from 2025 with proposed annual bill increases of up to 60% to meet recently introduced environmental requirements. The union said during the cost of living crisis, customers should not be asked to pay more for infrastructure work companies need to carry out.

Donna Rowe-Merriman, national secretary at Unison, said the current model of regional monopolies was not working for consumers or the environment. She added: “For years, profits in the water industry have landed in shareholder and executive pockets, and now, when infrastructure investment can’t be ignored any longer, they want customers and workers to pay the price.

“Privatising the profits and nationalising the cost is not a sustainable way to run any industry. Public ownership of the water industry is desperately needed so that the profits of this national asset benefit UK citizens and not just a small group of shareholders.”

Decisions about executive pay are taken by the remuneration committee at each company’s board annually. From this year, Ofwat added a condition to all company licences that requires boards to demonstrate how decisions about pay are linked to performance criteria, especially environmental performance.

“Next year water companies will invest a record £14.4 billion – the highest amount ever in a single year – to help ensure the security of our water supply in the future and significantly reduce the amount of sewage in rivers and seas,” said a Water UK spokesperson.

“We appreciate a rise in bills is never welcome but up and down the country customers will see the results of this investment with more than 2,000 kilometres of pipes being repaired or replaced and more capacity to treat sewage than ever before. At the same time support for customers is doubling, and will continue to grow, with more than two million families now being with helped with their bills.”