UNION leaders and managers from Caledonian MacBrayne finalised a pay deal last night that should rule out the prospect of strike action hitting West Coast ferry services.
A joint statement said that a proposed settlement had been agreed. The 450 CalMac staff involved must decide whether to approve the deal, which would mean a 4.5 per cent pay rise this year and one linked to the Retail Price Index plus 1.5 per cent next year.
The settlement was hammered out after talks on Friday and Monday. An offer of 2.5 per cent, with an additional 1 per cent based on performance-related pay, had been rejected by the union.