Trade union Uasa says strike action by its members employed at Rand Water may be “unavoidable”, after the parties failed to reach an agreement during wage negotiations held under the auspices of the Commission for Conciliation, Mediation and Arbitration earlier this week.

In a statement to the media on Friday, Uasa accused the water utility of a “unilateral review” of a 2014 essential services agreement that it argued was no longer appropriate, as the company had since been restructured.

The parties were due to return to the negotiating table on Monday.

Rand Water media relations manager Justice Mohale told Engineering News Online on Friday that the utility had not received a notice of Uasa’s intention to strike, but confirmed that, under the previous essential services agreement, workers considered essential were contractually prohibited from embarking on strike action.