Scottish govt nationalizes last commercial shipyard, Ferguson Marine

The Scottish government has announced to nationalize the country's last commercial shipyard, Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow. The Port Glasgow site will initially be leased from administrators after facing an uncertain future.

Around 60 of the 350 workers had stopped working at the yard due to the withdrawal of contract agencies in a bid to protect their financial position. The 97 million pounds deal for CalMac is behind schedule and considerably over budget.

Responding to the nationalization, GMB Scotland Organiser and Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions (CSEU) Scotland Chair, Gary Cook, said, "

"Nationalisation secures the immediate future of the yard and that is a very welcome development, particularly after all the recent uncertainty. Our members were caught in the middle of a situation that had nothing to do with them and their relief will be palpable. It is five years since the yard went bust and the Scottish Government has prevented that from happening again."

"We must be clear that nationalization will not be a quick-fix and there will be challenges. There will, for example, be limits to the amount of private sector work for which the yard can compete but the alternative to nationalization was closure and that was no choice at all.

He further added, "Our immediate priority is to secure the re-employment of the workers released last weekend because their skills are essential and then we will insist the government works with us to develop a proper industrial plan for the yard because lessons must be learned.

"We can now look to the future and everyone should do so with a sense of purpose. With vision and competency, we can get on with building the ships Scotland needs and together we can grow jobs and prosperity on the lower Clyde."