Do you work ashore for CalMac? How will this planned pay cut affect you? Call the confidential voicemail line (no one will answer personally) anytime on 01851 720821 or write to [email protected]. You may leave a name and contact number, if you wish. However, I shall not publish your name in any reports – unless you specifically say it is okay to do so. Iain.
11:30pm Update: Now with quote from Alasdair Allan MSP
About 70 Caledonian MacBrayne staff have been told they may suffer a swingeing package of cuts to allowances and bonuses which could slash their take home pay by a quarter as well as making them work longer hours.
Trades unions have vowed to fight the plan which would affect staff working for the ferry company mainly in booking offices and workers at west coast ports.
CalMac meanwhile has described it as “a sensible and affordable resolution” because of the state of the economy but said it understood the impact it could have and claimed it had a plan to cushion the blow.
It has emerged that talks on the controversial changes planned to the staffs’ pay and conditions between CalMac bosses and representatives of the shore staff union, the Transport and Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA), are due to begin shortly.
The ferry company, which is effectively owned by Scottish Ministers in the SNP-controlled Scottish Government and operated by government arm Transport Scotland, has already written to all the affected staff. The union said CalMac told them it is proposing to remove weekend working premiums as well as cut shift allowances, night working payments and annual holiday bonuses. It also says it needs to make radical changes to rostering which would mean a two-hour increase in the working week to 40 hours.
Tom Kennedy, the Scottish organiser of the TSSA, said the union had calculated it would mean a 25 per cent cut to members’ salaries.
He said: “This has been ordered by Transport Scotland because they are looking to increase efficiency. Yet the ferry company’s annual accounts show that current operational effectiveness in terms of punctuality is running at 99.7%.
“They are picking on people in very vulnerable communities and taking what are reasonable pay and conditions into a primitive employment package. Nowhere else in Britain have I seen a proposal for a 25% cut in pay and an increase in the working week.”
Mr Kennedy confirmed that talks with CalMac about the pay cut plan were due to open on Tuesday and said the union’s stance now had the support of the STUC and, after an emergency motion at its conference in Inverness on Saturday, the backing of the Scottish Labour party too.
“We want CalMac to withdraw these proposals. Their annual accounts show they have just made £4.5 million profit as well as giving £5.8 million back to the Scottish Government.
“Of the 70 staff affected, about 70 per cent of them are women. We did a survey of members to gauge the impact and one member told us that it will mean her kids will get packed lunches instead of taking school dinners. That is how serious this is.
“There is no need for it as we believe our members in the outports are doing a superb job and giving customers all they are entitled to expect from the CalMac company.”
Highlands and Islands Labour MSP Rhoda Grant has written to Nicola Sturgeon and warned the deputy first minister that anybody losing that proportion of their salary would face hardship. She said: “The shore staff have to be available for the boats because of bad weather with ferries arriving at any time of the day and night. They give excellent service when required and if this money is not available to them they may not be able to keep those jobs.”
While every employer needed to look at efficiencies, they could do it without taking it out on the staff, she said.
“People who are under-employed are paid less and fall into a poverty trap as they have no access to benefits. It’s as bad as being unemployed for affecting their life chances. I have written to Nicola Sturgeon as it is important that ministers get involved and intervene and show they value their staff and take away this horrendous proposal.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “While this is a matter between the employer and the unions, we would urge both parties to seek an early resolution to avoid any impact on passenger services.”
CalMac insisted that the slashing of the various allowances and the introduction of longer hours was because the economy was going through a challenging time that even a publicly-owned one like itself was not immune to.
The Gourock-based ferry company said: “We are working with colleagues and unions to ensure we comply with the working time directive and best practice to give the small number of staff affected a fair remuneration and work life balance.
“We understand the impact this may have and have made generous proposals to cushion this wherever possible and to deliver a sensible and affordable resolution. We are talking with trades unions and meeting with them next week to discuss some proposals which is normal practice. It would not be appropriate to comment further at this stage.”
The emergency motion passed at the Scottish Labour conference in Inverness at the weekend called on CalMac to withdraw the planned pay cuts. The conference also agreed to a campaign – including industrial action – in defence of the shore staff’s current pay and conditions.
Western Isles MSP Alasdair Allan, who is also a minister in the Scottish Government, said; “My understanding is that CalMac are currently in discussions with unions and some staff about pay and conditions. It would not be helpful for me to speculate about this while talks are ongoing.
“However I have written to CalMac to ask them to clarify the situation and expressed the hope that a solution can be found that respects the situation of staff.”
