Composite D (covering Amended Motion 6 and Motion 21)
Investing in Scotland’s Ferries
“That this Congress welcomes the potential for publicly owned and operated Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services to protect ferry workers’ jobs and terms and conditions, as well as restoring reliance and resilience.
“Congress believes all of the Scottish ferry network should be publicly owned, and Congress continues to support RMT’s campaign for the Northern Isles Ferry Service contract to be taken into public ownership in 2028.
“Congress pays tribute to our ferry workers who have provided a vital public service in very challenging circumstances and increasingly turbulent political and operational conditions.
“For example, the CalMac fleet has continued to be impacted by an aging fleet, delays in the introduction of new ferries, poor port infrastructure, fare hikes, the frequent cancellation of services, and falling passenger and vehicle numbers.
“The lifespan of most ferries is 25-30 years and around a third of the fleet is older than 30 years. The nine vessels in Orkney Ferries internal fleet are over 30 years old, impacting accessibility, capacity and reliability.
“Soaring maintenance costs derive from a failure over many years to order new vessels and to properly plan for the upgrade of the fleet, causing breakdowns and service cancellations. Complex governance relationships between CalMac, CMAL, Transport Scotland, the Scottish Government, and other organisations have led to a lack of transparency and accountability for service failures.
“Congress believes that these ferry services are a lifeline to island communities. These communities, the passengers, and the trade unions representing the collective voice of CalMac workers, should have a far stronger voice in the provision of services.
“Congress strongly supports the public ownership of ferry services and believes it provides the opportunity and levers to address all the above issues.
“Congress calls on the General Council to campaign:
- for a clear long-term plan for investing in and upgrading the CalMac ferry fleet which ensures that ferry services are maintained and extended;
- for ferry services that are affordable, reliable, and frequent, and for extra lifeline ferry services;
- to ensure that failures to plan for the long-term should not be passed on to the passengers who rely on these services;
- for a stronger voice for communities, passengers, trade unions and workers;
- for simplified governance arrangements that allow proper transparency and enable scrutiny of decisions;
- for governance reforms to the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract which increase the voice of ferry workers, their unions, and passengers;
- for annual delivery plans at CalMac Ferries throughout the CHFS3 contract that protect catering and other jobs on the fleet and avoid any redundancies;
- for the use of the new publicly procured ‘Flex’ freighters on the Northern Isles Ferry contract to provide sea time to train more Maritime Apprentices in Scotland;
- for sustained and increasing investment in our ferry services and ferry workers; and
- for guaranteed tripartite engagement (government, operators, unions) on fleet renewal and port upgrades, with binding timelines, local content targets, and protected rostering levels to secure safe crewing levels and decent work across all routes.”
“Congress welcomes the planned introduction of services between Rosyth and Dunkerque and seeks guarantees these will be crewed with Scottish based Seafarers.
“Congress calls for the fullest possible application of the Mandatory Seafarer’s Charter on this service, and sectoral collective bargaining coverage across Scotland’s ferry industry, including on international Ro-Ro services.”
Mover: National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (RMT)
Seconder: Transport Salaried Staffs Association (TSSA)
Supporter: Nautilus International
RSS