MORE than 400 Unite members at the Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) have won an improved pay deal after weeks of industrial action.

The workers had been undertaking a ban on overtime and weekend working since February 16, escalating to a one-day strike a week, after rejecting a pay offer of 4.75 per cent backdated to 2023.

After renewed negotiations in the wake of the strike, workers have backed an increased offer of 5.75 per cent from 2023, 3.15 per cent for this year, plus a £1,000 cash lump sum in recognition of soaring inflation over the last year.

Unite’s Alison Maclean welcomed the result, but warned of an increasingly hostile attitude to unions and workers at the agency.

She said: “The SQA has seemed more interested in escalating this dispute rather than resolving it. 

“There is also a job of work to deliver the reform agenda, which can only be achieved through a willingness to positively engage with Unite.

“If the prevailing attitude persists, then the tensions between management, the workforce and unions will continue to rise.”

The SQA was contacted for comment.