PARLIAMENTARY COLUMN

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: october 2015 :: RMTnews Parliamentary column 9 With Scottish Parliamentary elections seven months away, the Scottish government’s record will rightly come under close inspection and in some areas, such as Scottish ferries, the devil is most definitely in the detail. Firstly, in May 2012 there was the privatisation of the £350 million 2012-18 contract for Northern Isles Ferry Services. Despite using a procurement process known as ‘competitive dialogue’ which allows bidders to discuss with the Scottish government ways to improve their bid, the Scottish government returned, unopened, the public sector bid from David MacBrayne. Out of the four remaining private sector bidders, Serco was awarded the contract. Secondly, the Scottish government’s claims to be seeking an exemption for Scottish Ferries from the inappropriate requirements of EU maritime competition regulations cannot be verified. A three year extension to the existing Clyde and Hebrides contract was swiftly secured from the European Commission in 2012 but since then the trail has gone cold and the official correspondence has been withheld. Thirdly, with the Scottish government continuing to abide by these inappropriate regulations, privatisation of the £1 billion Clyde and Hebrides (CHFS) contract from October 2016 is a distinct possibility. Not only do RMT believe that lifeline Scottish ferry services can be exempted from the regulations, a host of academic and legal opinion also believes that this is possible. Yet here we are again, with public sector operator CalMac bidding against Serco to keep hold of a lifeline ferries contract. Finally there is the date on which the Scottish government plans to announce the winner of the CHFS bid: May 31 2016, some three weeks or so after the Scottish Parliamentary elections. Since postponing the tender in September 2012, the Scottish Government has had nearly three years (longer than any other transport procurement project in the UK) to plan for an announcement of the winning CHFS bid in advance of Holyrood elections on May 5. The only explanation for this timing is that the Scottish Government wanted to keep the private sector and Serco in particular, interested in bidding for the 2016 CHFS contract. It is, therefore, to the great credit of RMT members on CalMac that their industrial action on CalMac ferry services on June 26 this year and the subsequent negotiations with the company and the Scottish government secured protections for workers, passengers and the taxpayer from cuts to jobs, terms and conditions, service cuts and profiteering from lifeline Clyde and Hebrides ferry services. If the Scottish government was serious at providing stable, value for money lifeline ferry services, they would have meaningful plans to change the governance at CalMac and CMAL, the public body responsible for vessel procurement and upkeep of ports and harbours on the Scottish ferry network. Giving workers and passengers’ seats on the CalMac and CMAL boards would provide a meaningful voice in the operation of public sector ferry services and strengthen the connection to island communities. And let’s just spend some time looking at Serco. By the yardstick of their own share price, they are failing – the share price having collapsed to £1.03 last month, from £6.74 in July 2013. Yet since 2012, when the Scottish government privatised the Northern Isles contract, Serco Group plc have paid out over £145m in dividends to private shareholders. Why should passengers in remote communities, ferry and harbour workers, not to mention the taxpayer have to put up with public subsidy and fares being leeched from their essential services by Serco or any other private sector company? As RMT and The Daily Record’s excellent campaign slogan goes: Keep CalMac and Carry On. I hope that the Scottish government is listening and announces the winning bid for the CHFS contract before the Holyrood elections on May 5. After all, the First Minister assured RMT delegates at the STUC conference in April that CalMac would not be privatised, so surely it’s only a matter of Nicola Sturgeon keeping her word. Elaine Smith MSP is the convenor of the RMT Group of MSPs in the Scottish Parliament KEEP CALMAC AND CARRY ON Dear editor, I’d like to thank RMT very much for their support in the campaign for the leadership of the Labour Party and the active participation of so many RMT members at many of the events we’ve organised all over the UK. Fundamentally our campaign has been one of opposition to the politics of austerity and also to the kind of society we want to live in and the way the economy could be run. I strongly support public ownership of the railways and have made this very clear at numerous events over the country and in the consultative documents we’ve produced as a campaign. I look forward to working with the union to oppose the Tory Trade Union bill and also for the kind of rail industry we want. The whole campaign has been done by train travel all over Britain and I’ve met many RMT members on the trains or at the stations and I’m always impressed with their dedication, efficiency and good humour. Thanks again for your support. All the best Jeremy Corbyn MP Islington North THANKS FROM THE LABOUR LEADER