Around 40 Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) workers have secured a pay rise after an unanimous vote by Unite the Union members.
A significant wage increase for the lowest paid NLB employees of up to 15 per cent was agreed by 100 per cent from a 98 per cent turnout of the Unite members employed by the NLB.
These members include able seamen, base assistants, cooks and technicians and the pay deal will apply to 2023/24, with marine and onshore staff and marine based workers receiving a minimum uplift of £2,285.
Unite members will also receive extra holiday entitlement and a consolidated overtime allowance, which will be increased to 20 per cent of their salaries.
The workers maintain and operate Scotland’s lighthouses, beacons and buoys at sea ensuring that vessels and ships have safe passage through Scottish waters.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s NLB members have emphatically backed a new pay deal negotiated by their union. It will see a number of improvements to pay and also working conditions for our members such as an increase in overtime allowances.
“Unite will continue to go the extra mile in support of our members’ jobs, pay and conditions.”
NLB workers took strike action for the first time in the organisation’s 236-year history earlier this year, protesting on two occasions outside its depot on Gallanach Road, Oban.
These protests took place involved a historic picket line between June 26-27 and a further 24-hour strike from July 27-28, which involved a march through Oban.
NLB’s technical operations are carried out in Oban, where its two vessels, the NLV Pharos and NLV Pole Star are also based, with its mainland operations based in Edinburgh.
Unite industrial officer, Alison MacLean added: “The NLB workers provide a vital public service which helps keep mariners safe on their travels. The wage deal secured by Unite is a recognition of that invaluable work and it will make a difference amid the ongoing cost of living crisis.”
The NLB maintains 208 lighthouses across Scotland and the Isle of Man, with these located in some of the most remote places in the British Isles.
In response to an approach for comment, NLB’s chief executive, Mike Bullock said: “The Northern Lighthouse Board recognises four trade unions. We are still in negotiations with the other Unions and so we aren’t in a position to comment at the moment.”