Serco Ferry

[Colin]

Do people begrudge working men and women a pay rise ???

yes if its out of step with reality.

 

Bit like getting paid a feed in tariff when you put up a windmill perhaps?

[paulb]

nope. plus i don't get fits.

 

were do you think the money was going to come from for this deal. only two place either our pockets or Scottish government funds. either way that agreed wage increase is way out of line.

[Colin]

nope. plus i don't get fits.

 

OK Apologies

 

were do you think the money was going to come from for this deal. only two place either our pockets or Scottish government funds. either way that agreed wage increase is way out of line.

That's only 1 place....and your argument ignores what they were earning before the award.

I have no idea what the crew members were earning before they got an increase but, I would find it difficult to imagine that Northlink would have made a pay award that wasn't 'justified'.

Attacking them because they got what you consider to be an unreasonable percentage as a settlement isn't... well, reasonable.

10% of nothing is......?

[paulb]

true.

 

but somehow i dont think they are on nothing.

[ruidh]

Your right,they aren't on nothing and here's one reason why!!

[Ehhhwhit]

How many times has it been quoted on here that Serco were not talking to the RMT ? Hmmm Bob Crows own words

"General secretary Bob Crow said: "Our members support in this campaign was clearly demonstrated on Friday by the stoppage on the NorthLink ships.

 

“However, we have kept a dialogue going with the company and our members are also conscious of the effect that the action is having on island communities and in particular at this time of the year."

 

As for pay rises well you can bang on about them all you want fair days pay an all that, But Ruidh you keep banging on about your conditions "look at the conditions we work in" Their are thousands like you who get paid a lot less than you do, And hundreds on this Islands who put to sea in boats a 10th of the size of your ferry to look for fish to keep freight on your ferry to keep you in a job!!

 

But they didnt get a pay rise they dont have the luxury or option of striking they get cuts to catch allowances and days at sea, They have to stay out when your ferry doesnt sail just in a hope to pay some bills this month, So think on when your playing the hard done by card !

 

And no some of them cant just leave and find another job their entire life is invested in that little boat and they know nothing else !

 

[owre-weel]

Ehhwhit you didn't believe you could trust the words of the man did you?

 

Now his comments from Shetland News below sum him up.

 

“We have asked the company for a number of assurances which have been met and in effort to make progress and as a gesture of goodwill to the island communities we have agreed to a suspension of all action to allow further discussions to take place."

 

As a gesture of good will to the communities, oh how nice of him !good will would have been to avoid the strike in the first place.

 

He then goes on to sabre rattle and threat again, before they have even met round a table.

 

“If we can't make sufficient progress in those talks we will have no hesitation in issuing notice of our intent to take action again immediately."

 

When both groups say the other wont speak someone else should be brought in to bang their heads together.

 

Nope, they'd rather hold these isles to ransom before acting like adults

 

[Ehhhwhit]

owre weel, I try and see it from both sides as I was a union rep for many years but imho the RMT have used Shetland as a pawn in a bigger game which is imho a mis use of what a union should stand for!

 

I had many a battle against Serco management at all levels but found if you went in with a justifiable point and were reasonable towards their contractual needs you could always find middle ground.

 

Slagging people of in the press or on forums never helps, saying one thing then contradicting yourself a week later doesnt help, Digging your heels in and spitting your dummy out and having the opinion you will get what you want when you want all of the time just wont and cant work.

 

The ferry does bring Shetland lifeline services but this really should never have reached the stage it did and should never again with faults on both sides, As you said "bang heads together" but I fear this wont be the last and my reasoning for that opinion is that the staff on the ferries were against Serco from the start.

 

I did a little research on Serco in Shetland ! how many people on here realise Serco have run Scatsta Airport for the last 14 or 15 years and employed between 90 and 120 fulltime staff over those years on average they have received a 3% pay rise yearly ? thats a lot of money into the Shetland economy ! they rent a lot of property employ local companies for services !

 

Imho the ferry staff led by the RMT have dug their heels in and wont give a new operator a chance regardless of who it is.

 

Take 5 Shetlanders off the street sit them in the middle of the table while the negotiations are taking place and lets find out whos telling the truth ! I bet their would be a few surprises on those 5 faces during the meetings ???

[owdwife]

Well said last two posts

[ruidh]

How many times has it been quoted on here that Serco were not talking to the RMT ? Hmmm Bob Crows own words

"General secretary Bob Crow said: "Our members support in this campaign was clearly demonstrated on Friday by the stoppage on the NorthLink ships.

 

“However, we have kept a dialogue going with the company and our members are also conscious of the effect that the action is having on island communities and in particular at this time of the year."

 

As for pay rises well you can bang on about them all you want fair days pay an all that, But Ruidh you keep banging on about your conditions "look at the conditions we work in" Their are thousands like you who get paid a lot less than you do, And hundreds on this Islands who put to sea in boats a 10th of the size of your ferry to look for fish to keep freight on your ferry to keep you in a job!!

 

But they didnt get a pay rise they dont have the luxury or option of striking they get cuts to catch allowances and days at sea, They have to stay out when your ferry doesnt sail just in a hope to pay some bills this month, So think on when your playing the hard done by card !

 

And no some of them cant just leave and find another job their entire life is invested in that little boat and they know nothing else !

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w20Nj393_

 

That's their choice to go to sea in their little boats.

Our ferry doesn't sail because we have to take into account the saftey of passengers,and if we did no doubt there would be people shouting from the roof tops if people were injured.

If you had decent representatives then maybe they would have fought harder to protect your interest instead of reducing your Quotas / days at sea etc.

I have never suggested we are hard done by,as a matter of fact we are reasonable paid and have a good leave system.Over many years people have fought for these terms and conditions,so thats why they are worth protecting.

[chookyargyll]

As ruidh has already stated, the pay rise was negotiated nearly 18 months ago with the then employer, Northlink. Not that this has anything to do with anyone on here but the agreement was 1.5% pay rise last year, 4.25% this year and the same again next year. This was NEGOTIATED and agreed with both employers and scottish government, and was part of the agreement that whoever took over the contract would honour this deal. The pay rise kicked in on Oct 1st, so any statements from Serco regarding a pay rise is purely inflammatory and just to muddy the waters and divert attention away from the real issues. As has been mentioned before, this is STILL below the rate of inflation.

Do people begrudge working men and women a pay rise ???

 

mmm think what a public owned company are offering its staff is our concern. if the scottish goverment give even 1 pence in support then it becomes public business;

 

lets get this straight your getting 1.5 plus 4.5 plus 4.5 or 10.5 over 3 years. were every other public sector worker got 1% over the same 3 years.

 

ever thought that may be a reason that they need to cut staff you have priced the jobs out of existence.

 

Do people begrudge working men and women a pay rise ???

yes if its out of step with reality.

As was pointed out to us umpteen times by bill davidson,we are not "public sector" workers. We do not have all the the massive benefits afforded to them such as final salary pensions, massive expenses claims and anything elese that goes with a cushy number in said"public sector"

So you think we have "priced our jobs out of existence" ? The government

agreed our 3 year pay deal.They then paid serco millions to provide a service based on the existing manning levels at the agreed renumeration for each person. Serco then decide that there is too many crew and proceed to cut 36 jobs. serco have pocketed all the money from MY taxes to provide YOU with a "lifeline service" and then you have the temerity to say I am out of touch with reality ??You really,really beggar belief !! Where do you think the money serco save from this decimation of experienced seafarers,working in sometimes very difficult conditions is going to ??

 

STRAIGHT INTO SERCO SHAREHOLDERS POCKETS

 

Jelousy is a terrible thing, just because you never got a pay rise dont criticise ordinary working men and women for trying to squeeze every penny out of any employer,whether they are your "public sector" or not.

 

Again your post is serco pr. As stated previously this has nothing to do with the current dispute. This is ancient history as far as the crews are are concerned and only dredged up for serco trying to drum up support/sympathy.

If you had taken the the time to read my post properly, you would have seen that 3 years pay rise at year 1- 1.5% year 2-4.25% and year 3-4.25% which equals 10% over three years, but hey, dont let the truth get in the way of a good rant!!

[JMc]

Chooky, do you really think the government paid Serco millions to operate the service based on existing manning and wage levels and serco has pocketed the savings? If that is the assumption your being naive.

The contract written by government must have excluded any defined level of crewing if Serco have been allowed to do this, especially as its been done so soon.

So it's a fair bet that with that freedom and an obvious pressure to reduce the subsidy levels, whoever had won they'd probably be doing exactly the same. After all, what other big costs are there? Cost of the vessels is fixed, fuel is directly linked to the speed and number of services. Services have been trimmed probably for the same reason. Again, if taking out a few services was allowable in the specification it's reasonable to assume every bidder was going to go to two runs on the pentland firth.

Why? All the figures are published - £23m in subsidy in 2007, £43m in subsidy by 2012. Scottish Government would be nuts to keep writing blank checks for the next 6 years. There's a recession and everyone in the country is taking pain. Your inflation busting rises whether negotiated, agreed or justifed will be a healthy contributor to the rising subsidy levels as the fares havent jumped that much over the years. Go figure why crew levels are under scrutiny.

 

If your also taking the view your not a public employee, then why make a big deal about serco shareholders? if your not a public employee of course your going to be working for shareholders and all the more reason to not be surprised the employer is pushing through efficiencies. That's what any sensible private company would do. You can't have it both ways.

[shetlandpeat]

It will be taxes that pay the share holders their dividends.

[owre-weel]

Chookyargyll ... Why is it that you think that any posts that does not agree with your own thoughts are Serco Pr.

 

In simple terms... Your union held this island to ransom, and it was clear that when both sides say the other side won't talk, someone is telling porkies. GTM? Serco? I don't know! Possibly both!

 

You could have done more to get the islanders on side, but despite being asked to explain the reasons for the strike, you and ruidh seemed more interested in slagging off people or jumping down the throats of anyone who questioned your 10% ( over 3 years ) pay rise. This does little to get the public on side.

 

You may think 10% is below inflation, and maybe it is, but its a large rise in comparison to people on a 3 year pay freeze. So it's kinda rubbing people's noses in it!

 

Despite what Bill Davidson told you, you may not be public sector, but you are working in a public service paid for by our taxes, and therefore give the public a right to information and opinion.

 

Hopefully Bob Crow has now fluffed his feathers enough and proved how important he thinks he is, that he will now do the proper thing and complete discussions in an "adult" manner.

[paulb]

shetlandpeat. pray tell us how much has been paid into private companies via PFI. As your a member of the labour party please justify all the funds that have left the public sector.

 

Serco must have bid less than calmac so if they can reduce the demand on public funds and provide the same service good for them. if they fail in that then there had better be a penalty clause.