Ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne has secured a ground-breaking long-term pay agreement with seagoing and shore-based staff which will bring stability for all employees and the Company.

All four of CalMac’s main unions – NUMAST, RMT, TGWU and TSSA have accepted the pay offer which will be implemented immediately.

CalMac Managing Director Lawrie Sinclair has welcomed the agreement, which has been secured after a series of meetings described as the most successful and constructive in recent memory. Mr Sinclair said: “The wage negotiations this year have been exemplary and unprecedented in the manner in which agreement was reached. I am delighted that everyone has come on board with the minimum of fuss and I believe that this is recognition by the unions that they have confidence in the management of the Company to take us forward to meet the challenges we face in the coming months. I am delighted also for our customers and the communities we serve as the long-term nature of the arrangement means that we are all offered the stability and continuity that is so vital in the provision of lifeline services.”

Explaining the detail of the agreement, CalMac Director of Human Resources Alan Moffat, who led the pay negotiations for the Company, said: “This is a very significant new deal we have concluded with our colleagues in the unions and I have to say that the talks we have had were constructive, business-like and meaningful throughout. Everyone recognises the serious nature of the challenges we face and the need to be at the same time competitive and protective of employees’ interests. We are all also mindful of the effect of anything which can happen impacting on our communities during these talks and I am delighted that we have been able to come to a conclusion so swiftly and with such a good result for everyone.”

The three and a half year pay agreement is broken down as follows: – 4.8% for the first one and a half years, paid from the 2005 anniversary date; plus 3% for years two and three, paid on the October anniversary dates of 2006 and 2007 respectively. This gives an overall consolidated pay award over three and a half years of 10.8%.

However, if in years two and three the rate of inflation was is in excess of the agreement, the Company has agreed that it will recognise the right of the trade unions to renegotiate in line with the rate of inflation. For calculation purposes, the rate of inflation for September, published in October, will be used if the rate is in excess of 3%.

All employees will also participate in a bonus award of up to 1.5% unconsolidated, based on the Company making efficiency gains and being paid after Company accounts have been verified in spring of each year.

CalMac is also changing the pay anniversary date to October for all employees with the agreement of the unions.