Crews on Scotland’s Fishery Protection vessels are ready to strike over the imposition of a two per cent pay rise which their union claims could be illegal.
The Unite union said strike action by Marine Scotland crews is “inevitable” after a lack of progress in talks with Scottish Government.
The trade union, which represents around 80 Marine Scotland workers based at Scotland’s fisheries protection fleet, has received a massive strike mandate from crews after what it described as “disappointing" negotiations.
Sharon Graham, Unite general secretary, said: “Unite’s members at Marine Scotland are now at the end of their patience. These workers perform vital and life-saving roles but they’re being told to in effect take a pay cut which is completely unacceptable.”
“The Scottish Government has to come back to us with a more realistic offer at talks next week or strike action is inevitable in the coming weeks. Unite has zero hesitation in defending our members’ jobs, terms and conditions at all times.”
Unite officials reacted furiously to a two per cent pay imposition for 2021 by the Scottish Government stating that it could constitute an “illegal inducement”.
An illegal inducement – when an employer imposes a pay award against the wishes of the workforce – breaches collective bargaining arrangements. By doing this, the Scottish Government could be potentially in breach of the law, the union claims.
Sandy Smart, Unite industrial officer, said: “Unite has attempted to make progress in pay negotiations with the Scottish Government this week but we have hit a brick wall. Further talks are scheduled for next week but we have little hope the Scottish Government will make an offer which meets the aspirations of our members.”
Engineers, cooks, merchant officers, mates and deck hands on the Government’s three fisher protection vessels are responsible for ensuring that fishing fleets comply with the law when catching fish by preventing overfishing or the wrong size of fish catch.
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “As the pay award for 2021-22 was several months overdue, and had been accepted by members of one of the recognised trade unions, we decided that it was appropriate to move forward and implement the award.”
“This decision was not made lightly but it was important staff received the relevant increases to their pay. The terms of the award saw eligible staff receive earnings increases which ranged from 2.5 per cent up to 7.4 per cent for the lowest paid staff.”
“The Scottish Government remains committed to collective bargaining and is engaged in constructive dialogue with Unite on these issues.”
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