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The Unite union has secured a negotiated trade union recognition agreement with Bear Scotland alongside delivering pay increases up to 7.25% and improvements to standby payments.

Bear Scotland, an Anglo-Franco-American joint venture between Breedon, Vinci Construction and Jacobs, has network management contracts to  look after approximately 60% of Scotland’s trunk road network. Its crew in Inverness, who look after the A9 between Perth and Inverness, had been threatening strike action after rejecting a pay offer.

They rejected a pay offer that takes the lowest hourly pay band up from £12 an hour to £12.75. The highest grade was going up from £13.25 to £14.25 an hour.

The union managed to accelerate the pay grade timeframes for workers, meaning that they will now reach higher pay levels over shorter periods of time. The dispute is now closed.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Unite’s members working for Bear Scotland based in Inverness took a brave stand against their company by being prepared to take strike action if necessary. It has ultimately delivered not only a good pay deal but union recognition with Bear Scotland. It’s a great example of Unite backing our members all the way to achieve better jobs, pay and conditions.”  

Unite industrial officer Marc Jackson said: “Unite is delighted to have successfully negotiated an improved wage offer from Bear Scotland which was overwhelmingly backed by our members.

“The pay negotiations also lead to the company voluntarily agreeing to a trade union recognition agreement with Unite which will provide our members with a route to securing better pay, working hours, and holidays in the future.”

A Bear Scotland spokesperson said: “We are pleased that the small number of colleagues in our Inverness depot who raised concerns have accepted our proposal and that there will be no industrial action.

 “As we previously stated, we believe that the pay increase implemented in April 2025 is fair and competitive and this has been agreed with the union, in addition to the ongoing further refinements of benefits. We continually review our pay and benefits package to ensure our employees are recognised for the valuable contribution they make.

“We look forward to working constructively with the union and our internal joint consultative committee, which represents all of our employees, going forward.”

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