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 Unite members.
These members include able seamen, base assistants, cooks and technicians. The pay deal will apply to 2023/24, with workers receiving a minimum uplift of £2,285.
Unite members will also receive extra holidays and a consolidated overtime allowance, which will be increased to 20 per cent of their salaries.
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 working conditions for our members, such as an increase in overtime allowances.
NLB workers took strike action for the first time in the organisation’s 236-year history on June 26-27 and held a further 24-hour strike from July 27-28 in Oban.
NLB’s technical operations are carried out in Oban, where its two vessels, the NLV Pharos and NLV Pole Star, are based.
It maintains 208 lighthouses across Scotland and the Isle of Man and the workers maintain and operate Scotland’s lighthouses, beacons and buoys at sea.
NLB’s chief executive Mike Bullock said: “The Northern Lighthouse Board recognises four trade unions. We are still in negotiations with the other unions so we aren’t in a position to comment at the moment.”