Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne has confirmed that the company has not received any notification from the RMT union of their apparent decision to reject a proposal for settlement which was to be put to RMT members after a meeting held in Glasgow on Monday, August 4.

The talks, which took place at Glasgow airport, began at 4pm and concluded six hours later on Monday and then followed up with another session yesterday.

Caledonian MacBrayne Managing Director Lawrie Sinclair said: “Our customers deserve better than this. I am completely in the dark now as to the RMT’s intentions. Last night, after a total of three days of talks, the company believed that we had not only a joint statement which said that the details would not be discussed until members had decided whether to accept or not, and also a signed agreement on these details. The company was today informed by a media organisation that the RMT had issued a statement from London which rejected the offer. Our own Human Resources Director was speaking to Bob Crowe, general secretary of the union this morning and Mr. Crow never mentioned the possibility of rejection at this stage. We have been trying unsuccessfully for hours to get the union to clarify its position and they have failed to do so. Not even their representatives who were at the meeting knew of this statement from London . It really is an unacceptable way of conducting business and highly damaging to Caledonian MacBrayne at the height of the summer season. It is important that our customers and staff know what is going on here.”

Mr. Sinclair added: “Once again, let me make it clear. Caledonian MacBrayne has made the best possible offer under the public sector pay guidelines. CalMac is part of the public service and we have a duty to achieve a settlement which is in everyone’s interests – our communities first and foremost, who depend on us for lifeline services, our other customers and our staff. We made our offer against a background of having to achieve efficiency gains to reduce the level of deficit grant which we require to secure the future of the company. While we would have preferred a three-year settlement, we are very hopeful that we will now have two years to work together to make further progress. I hope that we can overcome today’s unfortunate events, but the union really does owe everyone an explanation.”