HANDS OFF CALMAC FERRY SERVICES

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 :: january 2016 :: RMTnews 14 RMT members turned out in force last month to lobby members of the Scottish parliament to demand lifeline Caledonian MacBrayne ferry services remain in the public sector and out of the hands of the transnational profiteering Serco. The lobby coincided with a debate on the tender process for the services which could see the private outfit Serco taking over from the public sector operator CalMac despite massive public opposition to any such privatisation of the services. During the debate in Holyrood Transport Minister Derek Mackay conceding the RMT's legal opinion on the Teckal exemption from tendering public contracts needs to be fully examined and offered to meet his Labour counterparts to discuss further. RMT general secretary Mick Cash said that the admission was a potential game changer. “We expect the Scottish government to fully explore and exhaust the legal opinion RMT has received in relation to tendering public sector transport systems. "RMT would welcome an invitation to join with both front bench transport teams at Holyrood to put forward our positive campaign which is fully backed up with a legal opinion from an expert in this field, to keep Calmac public and end this very expensive and wholly unnecessary tendering process. “Serco has a dreadful record in relation to public sector contracts and have established themselves as specialists in failure," he said. RMT national secretary Steve Todd said that the union would join with the politicians at Holyrood who stated on the record tin parliament that no stone should be left unturned in efforts to keep Calmac public. “This is in the best interests of the taxpayer, the travelling public and the hard working loyal staff,” he said. Scottish government concedes that RMT legal opinion on exemption from tendering public contracts needs to be fully examined HANDS OFF CALMAC FERRY SERVICES