News / Serco plans to shed sea staff
THE NEW operator of the NorthLink ferry service to the northern isles is planning to shed 36 jobs.
Serco NorthLink said on Thursday that the company had formally begun the consultation process with its seafaring staff and the unions.
The outsourcing company that took over the contract from publicly owned NorthLink Ferries this summer plans to introduce flexible crewing levels to save money.
Its managing director Stuart Garrett assured the travelling public that safety would not be compromised.
The company has already said it will reduce dry docking to cut costs.
Shipping Union RMT said on Thursday the move came as a “shock” so close after the confrontation during the contract handover.
Its shipping organiser for Scotland, Mike Hogg, said the union had previously received categorical assurances that Serco would neither reduce the manning of the vessels nor tamper with rules and regulations.
He said that as a responsible union they would be happy to enter “meaningful discussions” to hear what Serco had to say.
“The company only recently moved away from a confrontational approach and gave us assurances that they would negotiate,” Hogg said.
“We therefore would be happy to enter into discussions to hear their rationale and the facts before taking it any further.”
He added that almost all of the seafaring staff on the NorthLink ferries below officer level were in the RMT union.
Mr Garrett said the company was planning to tailor staffing levels to passenger numbers.
That, he said, was common procedure with nearly every other commercial ferry operator in the UK.
He added: “Safety will not be compromised, the staffing arrangements we propose continue to exceed the crew to passenger ratio required for our vessels by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.
“The consultation with staff will look at all available options. We are hoping to achieve these changes without the need for compulsory redundancies.”
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