GMB Scotland has accused the Scottish Government of allowing avoidable delays in ferry procurement to jeopardise the future of Ferguson Marine, the union stated.
The union intervened as MSPs debated a Public Audit Committee report urging ministers to accelerate investment and contracting decisions for Scotland’s last commercial shipyard on the Clyde. Louise Gilmour, GMB Scotland secretary, said the committee had effectively “fired an emergency flare over Fergusons” but that ministers had failed to act.
GMB Scotland is leading the ‘Fight for Fergusons’ campaign and argues that the yard should be directly awarded the contract to replace the ageing Lord of the Isles ferry. Gilmour said “the contract must be directly and urgently awarded.”
She added that ministers had offered “only excuses and no action at all” in the six months since the committee called for intervention. “From John Swinney down, ministers have taken turns to wring their hands and tell us how complicated it is. It is however only as complicated as they want it to be,” she said.
The committee’s report noted that only a small portion of the £14.2 million earmarked for yard upgrades has been delivered. It also concluded the reputation of the workforce had been unfairly damaged by historic overspends and delays on two CalMac ferries, and recommended giving workers and unions a stronger voice in governance.
Gilmour welcomed the committee’s findings, saying “a skilled and committed workforce is entirely blameless” for past failures and deserves the opportunity to rebuild the yard’s standing. She added that doing so will require “far greater urgency, ambition and support than we are seeing right now.”
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes recently described the shipyard as nationally significant and noted that ministers had intervened before to protect employment. Forbes told Holyrood that any future contracts must meet procurement and subsidy requirements, and that modernisation funds would only be released once the company submits an updated business plan that accounts for new orders.
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I was wondering where the weekly update was !