Ehhhwhit

Thanks

Does anybody know the landline number for the Quarff garage, the mobile number on idder forums is not recognised andi canna fin wir Shetland directory ??? thanks

It is coming to something when unlinked student is the voice of reason! Well said, U.S. Shameful ignorant bigotry being spouted by others on here. I second that comment "Shameful ignorant bigotry being spouted by others on here" My wife happens to be one of those so called immigrants and 90 % of her friends are also so called immigrants, I have to say since we moved back to Shetland to a house I own incase their are any stupid comments on that, That I am disapointed by the amount of comments little digs etc etc that so many so called shetlanders have at these so called Immigrants. I know of far more SHETLAND families that work the system than any of these "immigrants" I have just helped 3 people who have not an ounce of British/Scottish or Shetland blood in their veins secure accomodation after their wonderful so called Shetland landlord gave them 2 weeks notice as he can get more money from Petrofac ! yep fair system isnt it ! They have not run to the council they didnt declare homeless they got on with looking for an alternative place to lay their head ! which has been difficult to find as everyone wants a piece of the petrofac pie with silly prices for bedsits never mind a couple of bedrooms. As for social housing my son and his partner have been on the list for 5 years, Have thought they were close on a few occasions but alas no, on one occasion a couple split up and the wife was housed, Her daughter moved in with her 2 weeks later they resolved their differences and the marriage was saved and the single daughter is sitting in a 3 bed house nice and cosy ! Yep Shelties are no as daft as folk might think ! And their no as lilly white as some wid like t mak out ? Normally I dont get involved or comment on very much on Shetlink but tonight this really really boiled my greth ! My wife who works 6 days a week on just above minimum wage half her money goes on travel to and from work etc etc came home dnite and asked if we could think about moving back to her country as some delightful educated upstanding member of our community had decided they were having a bad day and they would take it out on her as she wisna fae here ! so that makes it ok ! If only I had known that this was not the first time, but happens several times a week as she is in a job that she deals with the public we would have moved away again a while ago ! And for once I can hand on heart say Im NOT proud to be a Shetlander.

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 ???

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 !

The ballot was legal no argument their you seem to forget the dates were set by Crow and Co after the ballot, I doubt very much if the members were then given a selection of dates and asked their opinions on that. As someone said earlier the redundancies had all but been met voluntarily think they had 32 voluntary! Where does bob Crow and co find fault in that. A business is trying to streamline its costs sensible in the current economic climate and protects what jobs it can during that process ! sorry but I really cant find fault in that. I would like to ask Ruidh or Chook (sorry if its spelt wrong)seeing as they are both obviously staff and I would say at least one a shop steward to be honest and tell us the shift patterns of the staff involved ! I was speaking to someone who has a relative who works on one of the passenger ferrys ! one of Serco`s reasons for all this is to streamline shift patterns seemingly and the aforementioned said that it was no wonder people were losing their jobs as the current shifts are un sustainable, his relative was off more than he worked, along the lines of 2 weeks on 2 off followed by the same then 4 weeks off ? Not bad if you can get it and sure as hell worth fighting to keep at any cost ! Im all for people fighting for their rights but this as more and more comes to light seems to be a war on Serco by Bob Crow who is leading his merry men astray imho !

I was a shop steward for several years dealing directly with serco on a variety of management levels, During that time they were professional and always conducted themselves in a professional manner and before you go to the table make sure you have crossed the t`s and dotted the i`s because sure as hell Serco`s legal team have, Make sure what you are throwing into the mixer is relevant and factual as again they will research it and tear it to shreds if its not. The RMT hmmm like any fulltime union rep Bob Crow is flexing his pecs and mouthing off, you are actually taught in your shop steward training to get up and walk out of meetings ! really conducive to settling grievences ! In my humble opinion one is as stubborn as the other i have read Bob Crow doesnt put the X in the box, No he doesnt but he does tell the shop stewards what to go back and tell the members ? Thankfully I am no longer a shop steward, its a thankless task your damned if you do and damned if you dont, Serco out to make money yes ! same as any other business ! not really that unusual ! Someone mentioned giving money back to the Government from any profits ! yes Serco certainly gave back 15% of any pre tax profits across any and all of its contracts when I had dealings with them whether they do or do not now I could not say. Both Serco and the RMT are stubborn RMT banging on about job cuts and price rises Serco saying were running a business and we want it to run at a profit ? Neither are wrong really ! At the end of the day I dont see a huge long thread on here about the Framgord job losses or indeed malcolmsons or Hunters fish ! it is sadly the economic climate we are in and where would we be if the government did not subsidise the ferry ? we would be paying through the nose as we do for most things for living on this lovely little Island we call home and getting on with it as we so famously always do ! Excuse the spelling and punctuation any comments welcome just felt d need t air me views having dealt we Serco for 6 years ! can see it from both sides and unions and their reps aint no saints and saviours !

Having been a shop steward for 5 years and in a similar situation to Northlink during that time and a period of transition im finding this to be interesting and familiar. The Union are the staffs representatives and it's they that should be spoken to,and then,the union addresses it's members as to the company's proposals. I agree that strike action is the last thing that is needed,but there is a lot of angry people out there who see the MD and his entourage having meetings all over the place but has not spoken to the people at the coal face of the operation. Good points but I do not agree ! the union are their to represent the employee after negotiation at local level has broken down ? if the company in question do not speak to the staff how can negotiation begin, What should happen is a meeting with all employees and the local Shop stewards then a meeting between the staff and the shop stewards and then a meeting between the company and the shop stewards to discuss any areas of concern. After that meetings have taken place the Shop Stewards should have another meeting with the staff to relay the outcome to the staff so on and so forth, But their has to be give and take on both sides if the staff and the RMT think that they are going to get everything their own way then we best get ready for a disrupted ferry service. In my opinion Serco are not the worst company to deal with and I think its more a case of this RMT guy with a bee in his bonnet, I have spoken to a number of shore staff and they seem quite happy and the feelings are possibly along the lines of what Ruidh said "Divide and Conquer" but thats a standard tactic by any large company in any situation of disagreement not just serco. If I was a union rep still I would be more concerned with preserving peoples jobs maintaining salarys and providing the service that is required so their can be no performance related come back from the new company and continue discussions with no change until all other options have been exhausted ! and that may well take some time but all that is needed is for an agreement on those terms to be signed by both parties. Thats my tuppence worth for what its worth no doubt get jumped on from great height but hey thats life And Ruidh from what I gather your an employee ! careful what you post mate dont land your self in hot water its a hard one for any union rep to defend when it printed out in black and white ?? After thought you have a Serco contract in shetland @ Scatsta why not speak to the staff reps etc up their and see how your T & Cs compare Serco are all about Equality are they not ?