CalMac ferry services returning to normal

Some ferries will be running to amended timetables on Saturday

Ferry services on the west coast of Scotland are returning to normal after a 24-hour strike by Caledonian MacBrayne staff on Friday caused two thirds of its services to be cancelled.

CalMac said it expected all its routes to run on Saturday, although there have been some changes to timetables.

The strike by RMT union members followed a two-day work to rule.

The dispute centres on concerns that Clyde and Hebrides ferry routes could be taken over by private firm Serco.

CalMac managed to operate about nine of its 27 routes on Saturday despite the strike by RMT members, who make up half of the company's workforce.

Further talks aimed at ending the dispute, which was triggered by the Scottish government's tendering process for the contract to run the Clyde and Hebrides ferry network, are due to be held in London next week.

CalMac is facing a challenge from Serco to renew the contract.

Serco already runs the Northlink ferries to Orkney and Shetland and the Caledonian Sleeper overnight rail service from Scotland to London.

About half of CalMac's 1,400 employees had been involved in three days of industrial action

Scottish ministers have said they are forbidden by EU competition regulations from favouring one bid over another, and that breaking the law would open them up to an expensive legal challenge and potential fines.

But union leaders have said that if Serco won the contract it would mean the privatisation of Clyde and Hebrides ferry services.

The RMT has asked that the government guarantees in the new contract that compulsory redundancies do not happen and existing terms and conditions are continued regardless of who wins the contract.

The Scottish government has called on both sides to show "common sense" by finding a solution to the dispute in order to prevent further disruption to island communities.