Scottish Opera pay deal accepted

A new pay offer has settled a dispute that was heading for industrial action.

BECTU members at Scottish Opera have voted to accept a phased four-year pay deal, backdated to April 2002.

The new offer, formally agreed by members at a mass meeting today December 4, was tabled by management after the union rejected an original 2.5% offer and began running an industrial action ballot.

Scottish Opera staff will now receive pay increases of:

  • 2.5% from April 2002
  • 0.5% from October 2002
  • 3.0% in April 2003
  • RPI plus 1% in April 2004
  • RPI plus 1% in April 2005

The union has also won a promise from the company that, if its grant from the Scottish Arts Council in increased during the settlement period, pay talks can be reopened in order to discuss a fair distribution of the extra funding.

As a result of the settlement BECTU has now suspended its strike ballot, and Scottish Opera no longer faces the threat of disruption in the busy pre-Christmas period.

4 December 2002