PROJECT NEPTUNE – A THREAT TO THE PEOPLE’S CALMAC

RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 ::november/december2022 :: RMTnews 15 The knock-on political effects of the Scottish government’s disastrous contract with Ferguson Marine for two new CalMac ferries are now becoming clear following the long-awaited publication of the ‘Project Neptune’ report. The report by private consultants Ernst and Young was commissioned the Scottish government before the Holyrood elections last year. It covers all aspects of ‘ferry governance’ including privatisation and unbundling on the Clyde and Hebrides routes operated by RMT members at CalMac. Some of the report’s recommendations, like merging CalMac and CMAL make some sense after the spectacular ferry procurement failure but the report’s authors serve the interests of those who would unbundle and privatise routes, not the interests of ferry workers. This includes business interests on the CHFS network. Many of these local businesses have sought to co-opt passenger groups to demand control over their own routes, regardless of the impact on the terms and conditions of the hard-working CalMac staff who were everyone’s heroes during the pandemic. The Transport Minister, Jenny Gilruth MSP in her statement to the Scottish Parliament on Project Neptune said that “the central guiding principle” in reforming CHFS services is the consent of island communities and announced that Angus Campbell, chair of the ferries community board would lead further consultation work. There was no mention of trade unions being part of that work or the impact that this ceding of power to local communities would have on collectively bargained terms and conditions. In 2017, the Scottish government found that “local communities and stakeholders … served by CalMac Ferries … expressed a general preference for a direct award to an in-house operator.” What has changed since then is the failure to deliver new ferries and RMT is absolutely clear that our members at CalMac will not pay any price for that failure. The two ferries - originally scheduled for delivery on the Ardrossan-Brodick and Uig Triangle routes in 2018 - are still sitting in the shipyard £143 million over budget and now expected to run further over time and budget. The Holyrood intrigue is growing over why the Scottish Government awarded Ferguson Marine this disastrous contract, but this does nothing for RMT members who face another winter season working on increasingly unreliable ferries that have become the political focus of opponents to public sector ferry services, not to mention increasing passenger frustration. Public subsidy should always be used to secure the interests of passengers and transport workers, especially on Scotland’s public ferry networks, where RMT is the biggest union. The Scottish government has a political choice to make – will it back CalMac workers and communities in delivering a positive people’s CalMac or will it serve up the £900 milion CHFS contract to the likes of P&O Ferries to bid for? RMT helpline 0800 376 3706 ::november/december2022 :: RMTnews PROJECT NEPTUNE – A THREAT TO A PEOPLE’S CALMAC Scottish government must back CalMac workers and communities and not serve up contracts to the likes of P&O Ferries